Four Men And A Baby
by ICantBelieveImNotButter
Summary: 4th in 'Coloured Lights' series --- Dean, John, Sam and Bobby are all tough hunters, but what happens when you throw a baby into their lives?
1. Theres Still Work To Do

**Author -** ICantBelieveImNotButter  
**Category -** Series  
**Rating -** M  
**Setting -** AU reality  
**Characters/Pairings - **Dean, Sam, John, Bobby, 2 OFCs', Dean/OFC  
**Summary -** Dean, John, Sam and Bobby are all tough demons hunter, but what happens when you throw a new born baby into the mix?  
**Notes -** This is the forth in the 'Colored Lights' series.  
1st story - How Life Should Be'  
2nd story - Connection  
3rd story - Expecting  
**Disclaimer -** All things relating to the Supernatural series is the property of Eric Kripke. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

**FOUR MEN AND A BABY**

**CHAPTER ONE - THERE'S STILL WORK TO DO**

Ten minutes. Just ten minutes had passed since Mary Winchester was born and Dean had barely taken his eyes off her. It all felt a little bizarre to him but in the most amazing way. He was almost afraid to blink because he never wanted to miss a second of his baby girl, and that was something that Dean never imagined himself feeling but here he was. Of course, Dean was not the only one who was captivated by Mary. John, Sam and Bobby hadn't looked away from her since Dean had handed her over to Pepper.

Between the gentle rocking and closeness of her mother's heart, and the smooth caresses of her father's fingers through her hair, Mary had fallen asleep.

"How are you feeling, Pepper?" Bobby asked quietly.

"Wonderful." Pepper replied with a warm smile as she watched the baby. "I mean, aside from being tired and sore."

"You were very strong to go through child birth without any pain relief drugs." said Ellen proudly.

"Well if we ever have to do this again I will definitely do the drugs."

"We should probably do this in a hospital too." Dean smirked as he lightly touched his baby's tiny earlobes.

"Not going to argue with you there." Pepper agreed.

"Does it feel any different?" Sam asked. "You know, being parents."

Dean thought for a moment and continued to look at his daughter as she slept. He did feel different, yet he had the strangest feeling that the change he now felt had been there waiting ever since he had found out that Pepper was pregnant.

"Yeah, Sammy it does." Dean replied.

"In what way?"

"It's better."

John smiled inwardly at that. He couldn't believe that he had lived long enough to be a grandparent and he was so glad that he was able to be there and see his first grandchild. John knew that there would not be anything that he wouldn't do for this little girl. With that thought in his head, John knew that they needed to stop standing around and get ready for when the paramedics got there. As great as it was to watch baby Mary sleep, they needed to be ready in case the paramedics were possessed.

"We should get ready for when the ambulance gets here." John suggested and if it weren't something they had to do in order to protect Pepper and Mary then he would have kept his mouth shut and continued watching Mary like the others.

"Yeah, you're probably right." agreed Bobby. "Sam, you get a circle of salt around the Impala. If something does happen that should protect you, Pepper."

"Should?" Dean asked alarmed.

"Even if it doesn't son, you will still have the rest of us with weapons." said John.

Dean shrugged, "Yeah, I know."

Everyone, besides Pepper and Dean, began to move away from the couple. Sam and Bobby poured a huge line of salt around the entire Impala. Ellen grabbed as much holy water as she could find from both her own car and the boys and John made sure that all of their guns were fully loaded. None of them were going to be taking any chances with Mary's safety. As soon as they were done, they all made their way back to the baby.

It was another twenty minutes before the ambulance arrived and of course, that time was spent watching Mary sleep. The child wasn't even an hour old and she already had everyone mesmerized. Thankfully, neither of the paramedics was possessed though John and Bobby were still a little edgy just in case anything happened. A down side to having a brand new baby was the deep paranoia feeling that you get, especially when you know what can really be out in the world.

The paramedics quickly looked over both mother and baby. They asked Ellen some questions in regards to the actual labor and once she had answered all of them, they helped Pepper onto the gurney and placed her into the ambulance with Mary still safely in her arms. Dean of course climbed right into the ambulance beside her.

"We'll follow behind and meet you at the hospital." said Bobby, as he leaned against the ambulance door. He gave one last look to Pepper and the baby then nodded and stepped back.

Bobby and the others remained until the ambulance had taken off. They were all a little unnerved to have Dean and Pepper be alone but they didn't have any other choice.

"Right, let's get going." said Bobby. "Ellen, I'll go with you."

"Ok, Bobby." Ellen nodded then walked over to her own car.

John and Sam got into the Impala with John driving once more. As they followed behind the ambulance, Ellen, and Bobby, Sam let out a small laugh.

"What is it?" John asked, looking at Sam out of the corner of his eye.

"I just can't believe it." Sam replied.

"Believe what?"

"That Dean's a father." Sam said and smiled broadly.

John knew that the smile on his sons face was not from amusement but from unbelievable happiness. Mary was such a lucky girl to be loved by so many people.

* * *

It was extremely late by the time they reached the hospital, or it was early depending on what way you wanted to look at it. It was still dark outside but being that it was 2:30 AM it was technically morning. John and the others had been separated from Pepper and Dean straight away and were directed to the waiting room of the maternity ward. Some of the hospital staff were giving them disapproving looks for being there at such a late hour since visiting hours were long over, but someone high up must have taken pity on their circumstances (a woman giving birth on the side of the road) and was letting them stay until the Doctors were done checking over Pepper and Mary. After that, they would probably have to leave.

John and Ellen were seated opposite each other in the very uncomfortable plastic chairs that lined the walls of the waiting room. Bobby had disappeared to get everyone some coffee and Sam was busy walking up and down between the rows of seats.

"How much longer are they going to be?" Sam finally asked.

"Relax, Sam." said Ellen. "I'm sure they're just making sure that everything's okay."

Sam turned to her and frowned. "Why wouldn't everything be okay?"

"It's just routine checks because Mary was born premature, but that doesn't mean that there is anything wrong." Ellen explained calmly. "A lot of premature babies are just as healthy as other babies. Besides, Pepper did give birth on dirt road and I'm not an expert at delivering babies--"

"--I think you did pretty well then." John told her.

"Thanks, John." Ellen smiled before turning back to Sam. "What I was getting at was that they need to double check that everything went...smoothly for Pepper."

"Ok." Sam slowly nodded as that information sunk in. "But should it be taking this long?" He asked quickly.

"They're fine. Look someone would have told us if something was wrong."

"Sit down, Sam." John sighed. If his son did not stop worrying than he would get him going as well.

Sam took one last look down the hall where Dean, Pepper and Mary had been taken then he sighed in defeat and took a seat next to Ellen. Bobby came back shortly after that with a small tray of take-away coffees.

"Any news?" He asked as he handed the coffees out.

"Not yet." said John.

John took a long drink of his coffee and welcomed the warm liquid as it burned down his throat. Even if it did taste horrible.

They all sat in silence for a while as they drank their coffees. Each one tensing whenever a doctor or nurse came towards them, though so far none stopped to talk to them.

Sam held his cup between his hands and wondered if it would just be better to ask someone what was going on. Then he began thinking of Ellen and how lucky they had been that she had turned up when she had, not that they wouldn't have made do without her of course, but her being there worked out the best.

"We were lucky you turned up when you did, Ellen." Sam told her.

Ellen smiled slightly, "Thanks." She said before sipping her coffee.

"Ellen, were you at the RoadHouse when..." Bobby started to ask.

"When what?" Sam was confused.

"Yeah." Ellen nodded her eyes down cast. "Yeah I was."

"What happened at the RoadHouse?" Sam demanded. He looked from Ellen to Bobby and his father and knew that there was something big they weren't telling him. Something very big.

Ellen looked up at John and frowned. "You didn't tell him?"

John shrugged, "We kinda had other things on our minds at the time." He reminded her.

John knew that that sounded a little disrespectful to all those who had died in the fire but it was true. As soon as they knew that Pepper was in labor, none of them had been able to think of anything else besides Pepper's safety.

Ellen took in a breath then turned back to Sam. "There was a fire. It burnt everything...there's nothing left."

Sam stared at her wide-eyed in shock.

"Ellen...I'm sorry." Sam said sadness in his voice.

Ellen simply nodded.

"How did you get out anyway?" John asked gently.

"I wasn't supposed to. I was supposed to be in there with everybody else." She scoffed and shook her head slightly. "But we ran out of pretzels, of all things. It was just dumb luck."

Ellen finished off the rest of her coffee before she continued.

"Anyway, that's when Ash called. Panic in his voice." She sighed. "He told me to look in the safe. Then the call cut out. By the time I got back, the flames were sky-high. And everybody was dead. I couldn't have been gone more than fifteen minutes.

"So Ash is..." Sam started to ask but knew the answer from the look in Ellen's eyes. "Sorry, Ellen."

Ellen nodded again as tears built up in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. "A lot of good people died in there. And I got to live." She smiled sadly at the thought of those she had lost in the fire. "Lucky me."

"And then you found us." Bobby finished for her.

"I knew I had too." Ellen said with a small nod. "Though I didn't know that Pepper was giving birth at the time."

"None of us were expecting that." said John. "She still had over two weeks left before her due date."

"That was probably just the stress from what she'd been through." Ellen said thoughtfully. "Though Mary seemed fine for a premature baby. She's just a little small."

"Well with parents like Dean and Pepper at least we know that she's going to be strong." Bobby added.

It was then that Pepper's doctor finally came over to them. He offered them a smile as they stood up to meet him, all eager for any news he may have.

"You're all here with Miss Bassingthwaite, right?" He asked them.

"That's right." Bobby nodded. "Is she okay? Is the baby okay?"

"They're both fine. But unfortunately, it's late and out visiting hours are long since over. I'm sorry but you'll have to leave." The doctor told them. "You can come back tomorrow at 9:00 AM that's when our visiting hours start."

"Couldn't we just see them for a minute?" Sam pleaded.

"Sorry, but we're already bending the rules to let her boyfriend stay the night, although why anyone would choose to sleep in these hospital chairs is beyond me."

John smirked. He was certain that the sleeping arrangements didn't matter to Dean as long as he got to be with his daughter.

"Thank you, Doctor." John said. "Would it be okay if I just saw my son for a second to let him know we'll be leaving?"

The Doctor thought for a second then nodded. "Alright but just you. You've got two minutes then I'm afraid you'll really have to leave."

John nodded and followed the Doctor down the hall towards the rooms.

"Guess the rest of us better find a place to stay the night." said Bobby. "We'll meet John downstairs."

As they made their way towards the exit, Sam took one last look around the hospital.

"I feel weird just leaving them here." He announced.

"I know." Bobby agreed. He wished they were back home because he knew enough people at the hospital near his place that he was sure he'd be able to convince the staff to let them all stay. However, here he had no option but to leave. "At least Dean's stayin'. He'll be able to look after Mary and Pepper."

Ellen glanced over at Bobby as they walked. She knew that it was probably killing him to leave Pepper and the baby at the hospital.

"Let's go." said Ellen. "There are things I need to tell you boys."

"Like what?" Sam paused, looking at her.

"I'll tell you once we're settled in a motel."

* * *

The Doctor led John to the outside of Pepper's room and then excused himself to go visit more patients, and reminded John of his time limit. John knocked on the door as softly as he could, not knowing if the baby was asleep or not. It only took a couple of seconds for Dean to step out. He gently closed the door behind him.

"Hey, Dad." He said softly.

John had to know the huge grin that was plastid on his sons face.

"Dean, we have to go." said John. "Visiting hours are over."

"Yeah, I figured that from the looks some of the nurses were giving me. Dean nodded. "But I got permission from the doc, which I think trumps the nurses."

"Do I even want to know how you managed that?" John asked, with one raised eyebrow.

"I think the dude's a father himself." Dean replied. "So he knows how much I don't want to leave Mary."

John placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Congratulations. You really made a beautiful daughter."

Dean nodded. "I did, didn't I. Um, look dad I should get back in there so I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you later. And give that baby a kiss from me."

"Yeah."

Dean turned and without waiting for his father to leave, he walked back into the private hospital room. John took in a deep breath and smiled as he slowly let it out again. Apart from Sam and Pepper being kidnapped by the Demon, this day had to be one of the best days the Winchester family had ever seen.

* * *

Dean walked across the room to the bed and sat down beside Pepper's outstretched legs, close enough that his knees pressed against her hip. Pepper was leaning against the pillows behind her as she rocked Mary lightly against her. Dean's eyes immediately went to his daughter. He leaned over and took the fingers of one of Mary's hands in his own. Her tiny fingers resting against his index finger, and he lightly rubbed the pad of his thumb back and forth over her skin. She had been cleaned up and was no longer wrapped up in his jacket but a soft white hospital blanket. She still looked gorgeous though. Mary was awake and had been looking up at her mother until Dean sat down then her focus went to him. Dean had to admit, he loved that.

"Everything okay?" Pepper asked after a few moments.

"Yeah," Dean sighed. "The others had to leave."

"Bet that went down well." said Pepper. She looked up and Dean and smiled. Even though he was talking to her, he hadn't taken his eyes off Mary.

Dean chuckled smiled, "I'm sure it did." He shrugged and added, "But rules are rules."

"Yes, because everyone out there is known for their rule abiding skills."

Dean chuckled lightly at that. He leaned down and brought Mary's fingers to his mouth, kissing them as if they were the most precious things in the world. And let's face it, to Dean they were.

"I can't believe how...amazing she is." He replied honestly. "She's just beautiful."

"She has your eyes." Pepper sighed with a smile.

Dean sat back up with a huge grin on his face. "I know."

Pepper laughed silently before Dean captured her lips with his own. As they pulled apart, Pepper yawned and Dean smiled at her. He moved back and carefully took Mary out of her arms and rocked her in his own arms.

He kissed her forehead and said, "I think mommy's tired."

"Of course mommy's tired." Pepper said with another yawn. "Mommy gave birth to night. That's not exactly easy you know."

Dean nodded in agreement. He was really impressed by the whole labor thing and knew that even with everything he had done in his life, he wouldn't be able to do it. He looked back down at Mary and saw her eyelids close. He smiled and walked over to the small hospital cradle in the corner of the room. He shifted Mary so the he could support her with one arm and with his free hand; he took hold of the cradle and wheeled it towards the bed. Once it was directly beside the bed, he gently placed the baby into it and kissed her cheek.

As he pulled back, he took a few minutes to simply watch her as she slept. She looked a little bit more like him than she did Pepper. Apart from having his eyes, she had his hair color though only time would tell if it would get lighter or darker. Dean was almost certain that her nose, mouth and lips were his too but maybe he was just biased. His heart swelled with pride and love as he watched her.

"I can't believe how much I love her." He admitted. "I mean, I kind of guess that I would but actually seeing her and being able to hold her...it's just all a little overwhelming. I had no idea that I could ever love someone the way that I love her." He sighed and lightly stroked Mary's hair. "My life was so dark and sure I had Sammy and Dad but even so I never thought that I could look at another person and not still feel all the terrors that I've felt my entire life. But looking at her, at our daughter...I look at her and all I feel is how much I love her and how much good there still is in this world."

He paused and waited for Pepper to chime in with a response. "Pepper?...Pep?"

Slowly Dean turned around and saw that Pepper was lying down, her eyes shut and her breathing leveled out. He pulled the blankets up to her shoulders and brushed her hair from her forehead. He leaned down and pressed his lips against her cheek. He whispered, "Thank you." Against her skin before he pulled back.

Dean wasn't feeling tired and maybe that was because of the adrenaline pumping through his body, or maybe it was simply the fact that he couldn't take his off his new baby daughter. It was most likely the last one. He carefully leaned against the edge of Pepper's bed, folded his arms and kept a watchful eye on Mary.

* * *

John and the others entered one of the motel rooms they had booked. Since the most beds in each room was only two, and none of them felt like struggling with the floor they had paid for two different rooms. One for Bobby and Ellen and the other for the Winchesters. In the room there was a small placed in front of the two beds, in the front of the bathroom door. The rooms were very small but they were cheap and at this late hour, none of them were very picky.

Bobby moved and leaned against the closed bathroom door. Sam sat down on the edge of one of the beds while Ellen and John sat opposite each other at the table. It had been a long day for all of them and even though they were all tired, they wanted to know what Ellen knew.

"Ellen, you mentioned a safe?" Bobby began.

"A hidden safe we keep in the basement." Ellen replied with a nod.

"Demons get what was in it?"

Ellen shook her head, "No."

Ellen reached inside of her jacket and pulled out a map from her pocket. She unfolded it and placed it down on the table. John, Bobby and Sam all moved from their spots to crowd around the table to get a better look at the map. At random spots on the map were small black X's.

"Wyoming." said John, eyeing the map. "What does that mean?"

"I've got some books in my trunk." said Ellen. "That physic friend of mine knew more than where you lot were."

She pushed her hair back but before she had a chance to stand, Bobby placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll get them." He offered.

Ellen nodded and tossed him her keys. It only took Bobby a minute or so before he returned with the books and some other maps. Several minutes after that, Bobby was going through one of the books while Ellen was explaining the contents of another map to Sam and John.

"Demonic omens." Ellen explained, gesturing to random spots on the second map, also of Wyoming. "Cattle deaths, lightening storms. They skyrocketed from out of nowhere. Except for Southern Wyoming."

"The marks on the other map." said Sam.

"Yeah. That area is completely clean. It's almost as if..."

"What?" asked John.

"Like the Demons are surrounding it." replied Ellen.

"Did you happen to find out why?"

"No, I didn't have time to check this all out. I just wanted to find you boys first."

"I don't believe it." Bobby said suddenly. He moved towards them and placed the book he was reading right on top of the map.

"You got something?" Sam asked, leaning over slightly.

"A lot more than that." Bobby replied. "Each of those X's," He said, gesturing to the corner of the first map. "Is an abandoned frontier church - all mid nineteenth century. And all of them built by Samuel Colt."

"Samuel Colt?" John repeated.

"The demon-killing, gun making Samuel Colt?" asked Sam.

"Yep. And there's more." Bobby continued. He grabbed the first map and laid it out. "He built private railway lines connecting church to church." He paused and ran a finger from X to X. Then he grabbed a pen and connected each X, creating a pentagram. "It just happens to lay out like this."

"Tell me that's not what I think it is." John demanded, staring at the map.

"It's a Devil's Trap." said Sam. "A 100-square mile Devil's Trap."

"Made from iron lines the Demons can't cross." said Bobby.

"I've never heard of anything that massive." said Ellen.

"No one has."

"And after all these years none of the lines are broken?" Sam asked. "I mean, it still works?"

Bobby nodded.

"Of course, all those omens." Ellen shook her head slightly as it all came together. "The Demons must be circling and they can't get in."

"But they are trying." added Bobby.

"So what's inside?" asked John.

"I'm not sure." said Bobby. "The only thing I can find that may be it is an old cowboy cemetery right in the middle of everything."

"Well, what's so important about a cemetery or...what's Colt trying to protect?"

"Well, unless..." John began but trailed off as he gathered his thoughts.

"Unless what?" Bobby asked.

"What if Colt wasn't trying to keep the Demons out? What if he was trying to keep something in?"

Ellen looked at John and sighed, "Well that's a comforting thought."

"Yeah." John agreed.

"Could they do it, Bobby?" Sam asked. "Could they get inside?"

"This things so powerful, you'd practically need an A-bomb to destroy it. No way a full-blood Demon gets across."

"No." Sam paused, his eyes down cast. His mind raced back to what he had learnt from the Demon and then he remembered Jake and how he nearly killed them. "But I know who could." He finished, bringing his eyes up to lock with his father's.

"Who?" John asked.

"Jake." Sam answered. "I mean, he ran off and for all we know he could be working with the Demon now."

"So what do we do now?" Ellen asked them.

"First we have to find out when all this is going to take place." Bobby suggested. "But I'm thinking it's going to be soon. We'll get our stuff together and in the morning we'll head to Wyoming--"

"--And do what?" Sam demanded. "We don't even know what's going to take place."

"Yeah, but we have to at least try to stop whatever the Demon is planning." said John.

"I think we should all try to get some sleep for now." said Ellen, looking at each man in turn. "It's been a long, long day."

Even though they had all taken in a lot of information they all agreed that they needed their rest.

* * *

When Sam woke up the next morning it was a little after 7:00 AM, and his father was already up and drinking coffee at the table, looking over the maps again. He looked a little more rested than yesterday but not by much. Sam knew that his father had gotten less sleep than he had, and since he did not get much himself that was saying a lot. Sam stretched and sat up before slowly swinging his legs onto the floor.

"Morning, Dad." Sam muttered as he stumbled towards the table. "What are you up too?"

John looked up at him briefly, "Just going over a few things." He looked back down at the map and added. "It should take us the whole day to just get to this place."

"Then shouldn't we leave now?"

"I'd rather give Bobby and Ellen at least another hour of sleep. This is going to be a big battle we're going in to, Son." John replied, shaking his head slightly. "I don't want anyone to be off their game when we get there."

"I doubt they're still sleeping, dad." Sam replied thoughtfully. "I don't think any of us got a lot of sleep last night."

"No, I suppose you're right." John nodded. He placed his mug down on the table and stood up. "Come on then, let's go and see if they're up."

* * *

Ellen and Bobby were of course up and ready to go when John and Sam went to see them. The four of them quickly gathered their things, showered, and grabbed whatever weapons they had and placed them in the Impala. By the time they were pulling away from the motel it was close to 8:45 AM. John was driving once again and turned the car down the road towards the hospital. It took Sam a few minutes to realize that his father was driving to the hospital and not in the direction that would take them to Wyoming.

"Dad, what are you doing?"

"Going to see your brother." John replied, as if this should have been obvious.

"What!" Sam nearly shouted. "Dad, you can't do that. He just had a baby. You can't force him to go on a hunt now."

"I'm not going to force him to do anything." John snapped back. "He can stay here if he wants; no one is going to hold it against him. I am just giving him the option to come if he wants to. Think about it, Sam, this is something you and your brother have been dealing with most of your lives. Don't you think Dean might want to see it finished?"

Sam looked down and nodded. He knew his father had a point. Even if Dean decided to stay here, he still had a right to know what was going on. Silenced filled the car after that until they pulled up in the hospital's underground car park.

"Sam, go and let your brother know what's going on." Bobby said, leaning in from the backseat slightly.

"Why me?" Sam asked as he looked back at him.

"'Cause I asked ya too." replied Bobby. "The rest of us will wait here."

Sam hesitated for a brief moment then finally gave in and slid out of the car. What Sam hadn't realized was the reason for why he was the one to be sent up. Bobby and John were both scared that if they went upstairs and held that little baby in their arms neither of them would be able to let her go, and then they'd never be able to go on this hunt. The idea of sending Ellen also went through Bobby's mind but he thought that Dean would appreciate hearing about the Demon from his brother more.

* * *

Dean sat on the edge of Pepper's bed and rocked Mary in his arms as he looked down keeping eye contact with her. She seemed to be watching him with great interest and that kept a smile on his face. He began making popping noises with his mouth, all the while still smiling. Pepper watched him from her bed as she finished off an apple one of the nurse's had given her. She started laughing when he made popping sounds. Dean paused mid 'pop' and looked up at her.

"What?" He asked seriously, as he frowned.

"I just never thought I'd see Dean Winchester doing this." She replied, waving a hand towards him and Mary. "It's a good sight."

Dean paused for a moment, still frowning then he shrugged one shoulder slightly so he wouldn't disturb Mary, then he went right back to rocking her and making more noises. Pepper burst out laughing but stopped when something outside her room caught her eye. As she took a closer look, she noticed Sam nervously coming towards them.

"Sammy's here."She announced gesturing over Dean's shoulder to the door.

Dean looked behind him and grinned. He'd been waiting all morning for his family to arrive so that he could show off his daughter. He was actually excited about it even if it did mean letting someone other than himself and Pepper hold her.

"Hi." Sam said and walked slowly over to the bed.

"Hey, Sammy." Pepper smiled at him. "Did you guys have a good night?"

"A yeah," Sam shrugged. "Kind of. What about you?"

"The best." Dean grinned.

Sam nodded and looked at the baby in his brother's arms. Last night, Sam couldn't get the image of her out of his head, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but it did feel strange. As he watched her, he almost forgot why he was actually there and not with the others.

"Sammy, do you want to hold her?" Pepper asked gently.

"Really?" Sam looked up from Mary for a moment. His tone had a trace of excite meant through it but when he looked back at Mary he tensed slightly.

Dean stood up and moved towards Sam. Sam held out his hands, ready to have Mary placed in them. Pepper noticed how nervous Sam seemed.

"Relax, Sammy." Pepper smiled. "She's not going to bite. You'll be fine."

"I know." Sam replied, still watching his niece as she lay in her father's arms. "It's just that she's so tiny. I'm kind of scared that I might drop her--"

He was cut off because suddenly Mary was getting further away. He looked up at his brother who was sitting back on the bed, glaring at him.

"Dean...Wha-" Sam asked, confused as he frowned.

"You are not holding my daughter with that attitude." Dean replied, but it was more of a warning.

"But, I..."

"Dean," Pepper sighed. "Just let him have a hold for a second."

"No," Dean said, turning slightly to look at her. "When he's more confident and doesn't make comments about dropping her, then he can hold her."

Pepper rolled her eyes but didn't argue further. She knew that Sam would never actually drop their daughter but Dean was just being over protective and there wasn't anything wrong with that either. She knew that eventually Dean would calm down.

Sam frowned sadly. He hadn't really known how much he had wanted to hold the baby until right now when he wasn't allowed to.

"Sammy, where are John and Granddad?" Pepper asked.

"Oh, ah yeah that's why I'm here. Dean, we kind of know what the Demon is planning." Sam said quickly.

"What?" Dean asked, a little louder than he intended causing her to squirm. He leaned down and cooed at her until she settled down and then he handed her over to Pepper. "When you say 'Demon' you do mean--?" Dean started to ask when he turned back to Sam.

"The one that killed mom." Sam nodded.

"What are you talking about?" Dean asked, folding his arms.

"Ellen, had maps and books - look we're not sure exactly what's going to happen but we do know where it will happen." Sam explained. "And we've checked, so we think that whatever it going to happen is gonna happen soon."

"Okay," Dean slowly nodded.

Sam took in a breath then let it out slowly. "Dad wanted to know if you wanted to come and, you know, finish it."

"You think we could really finish it. For good?"

"I don't know." Sam shrugged. "Like I said, we're not completely sure what's going to happen."

Dean shook his head, "Sam, I can't just leave. I won't leave. I mean I want to see this through more than anyone but I'm not--"

"--I know, Dean." Sam quickly assured him. "No one wants you to go if you don't want to. Dad just wanted to give you the option if you decide you do want to come."

Dean closed his eyes and turned his head upward. This decision shouldn't be this hard to make. It should be simple, stay here with Mary. That should always be his choice, and yet...Dean needed to be there when they ended this. He needed to be there to help his brother and father because he knew that they would need him. He felt so guilty for even having to think about this. How could he even think about abandoning his daughter.

Sam swallowed a lump in his throat as he watched the obvious emotions his brother felt come across his face. Sam felt bad for putting this on Dean's shoulders and wondered if this was the reason why Bobby and the others hadn't come up.

"Dean." Pepper said softly.

Dean sighed and slowly turned to face her. He didn't want her to know that he was struggling with an answer, thinking that she would find that disturbing. She probably thought that Mary should come first above all hunts even this one.

"You should go."

"What?" Dean asked, thinking he'd heard her wrong. "Pepper, I can't..."

Pepper shifted Mary to rest against one arm then reached her other arm out to take hold of Dean's hand.

"I know you, Dean." She began. "I know how long you've had to deal with this. I know how much of your life it's ruined, and I know how much you want to see it be over."

She let go of his hand and moved to cup his cheek. Dean leaned into her touch and closed his eyes once more.

"Having Sammy, John, Granddad and Ellen out there without you isn't going to be the same as being there yourself. I get that. And if you stay here all you'll do is worry about what's happening to the others."

"But aren't you going to worry if I go?" He asked, slowly opening his eyes to catch hers.

"Of course I will, but I'd rather you go then have you stay here with a decision that you might regret later. I don't want you to go through that."

"I'm gonna regret my decision either way, Pepper. If I stay I'm gonna be wishing I went and If I go...I don't think I can leave you two." Dean paused and reached over to hold his daughter's hand as she waved it around.

"I know it's hard for you and believe me if it were up to me you'd all stay. But..." Pepper took a deep breath. "This is something you need to do. Just make sure that you are one thousand times more careful than you would normally be. And we'll be fine here. I promise."

Dean closed his eyes again and tried to decide which side of his inner battle he should let win. On the one hand his entire life had been leading up to this final showdown between his family and the Yellow-eyed demon, and on the other hand the very thought of leaving his daughter to go do something that may kill him ripped his insides to shreds. He weighed up everything that Pepper had said and knew that she was right. He did need to do this. More than anything he needed to see with his own eyes that the demon was dead and gone otherwise, he would be constantly worried that it would come after Mary. Of course, he would always be worried that something was after her but he did not want that fear to consume either his life or hers.

Finally, with a lot of difficulty Dean made his decision.

"Ok, Sam." He sighed, "I'll go." Dean let go of Mary's hand and turned around to face his brother. "But you need to help me with something first."

* * *

That thing that Dean needed help with was protecting Pepper's hospital room. Over protecting the room, actually. Sam and gotten Ellen to come up and help while John and Bobby remained outside trying their best to stop Demons from actually going into the hospital by placing salt lines and devil's traps near every entrance. Dean was disappointed that neither of them had come up to see Mary, but he understood their reason for not being there once Ellen explained it to him.

Pepper was sitting on the edge of the bed, rocking Mary in her arms as Dean, Sam and Ellen moved around the room doing everything they could think of to keep it safe. They kept the door closed and the blinds shut. Last thing they needed was to get kicked out for doing bizarre rituals. Everything they did needed to be out of the way so that none of the hospital staff noticed. It was a good thing that Pepper was in a private room.

Sam was standing on a stack of chairs and spray painted a devil's trap on the ceiling just in front of the door. Dean walked around and poured salt on the windowsill and around the bed. Ellen placed a few protection hex bags around the room. One under Pepper's pillow and one hidden in the cradle.

"There." said Ellen, wiping her hands together as she finished setting the last hex bag. "I think we're done. Boys?"

"Almost." Sam called out, joining up the last lines of his devil's trap.

"Thanks for helping, Ellen." said Dean. "Do you think this will be enough?"

Ellen nodded, "I think we've done more than enough." She smiled and walked over to Pepper. Leaning down towards Mary, Ellen cooed, "Hello, there beautiful."

"You can hold her if you want, Ellen." Dean grinned at her.

Ellen grinned back and carefully took Mary from Pepper's arms, while behind them Sam stepped down from the chairs and looked annoyingly at his brother.

"Why is she allowed to hold her?" Sam almost whined.

Dean turned and glared at his brother before snapping, "Because she didn't say anything about dropping her."

Sam let out a long sigh. "I said I was sorry, Dean. What more do you want?"

Pepper laughed then sobered up when she noticed the time. It was almost 11:00 AM and from what Ellen had told them, she knew that the quicker they left the better.

"You should probably get going." She told them.

Ellen looked up from Mary and smiled sadly at Pepper. She could see the regret in her eyes from having to send Dean on this hunt. Ellen carefully placed Mary in the cradle and kissed her before turning to hug Pepper tightly.

"I'll look after him." Ellen quietly promised. Ellen suspected that making sure Dean survived this would be high on everyone's list especially herself, John and Bobby. The three of them knew what it was like to raise a child alone and none of them wanted that to happen with Dean, Pepper and Mary. That baby deserved to have both of her parents with her while she grew up.

"Thank you." Pepper nodded.

Ellen pulled back and walked over to Sam, gently tugging on his arm to lead him out of the room. Sam paused for a moment but eventually followed. He could tell that Dean and Pepper needed some time alone.

"Dean, we'll get Bobby and John then we'll meet you downstairs."

Dean nodded, grateful that Ellen new that he needed to be with Pepper alone. Once Sam and Ellen had left the room Dean walked over to Pepper and took her in to his arms. Her own arms wrapped around his shoulders as he pressed his face against the side of her neck. Dean took a deep breath and held her a little tighter. After a moment, Dean pulled back and kissed Pepper as passionately as he could. With their lips still touching their foreheads rested against one another.

Pepper sighed, "I love you."

Dean smiled, but instead of answering her, he just kissed her again. He hardly ever said the words, even now that they'd had a baby together but that didn't matter to Pepper. Just because he couldn't say the words didn't mean he never showed her how he felt about her, in his own way of course. And while he couldn't say the words to her it seemed like he had no problem saying it to Mary. Pepper had lost count on how many times he had said it since she was born.

Dean moved away from her and stepped towards the cradle. Mary looked up at him with her round eyes so fill of innocence and wonder. He smiled and ran his fingers over any bit skin he could reach. Her skin was soft and smooth against the roughness of his fingers. Dean wanted to commit every bit of her to his memory. He leaned down and placed his lips against her cheek.

"I love you, Mary." He told her.

Pepper was behind him now. She placed a hand on his shoulder causing Dean to step back and turned to her. She cupped one hand against his cheek and ran her thumb over his bottom lip, forcing his eyes which had still been on Mary to meet hers.

"Be safe. Look out for the others." Pepper told him. "And God help you if you don't come back to us."

Dean kissed her one more time and then reluctantly walked towards the door.

**TBC**

**Next Chapter - The Gates Of Hell**


	2. The Gates Of Hell

**Author's Note -** _I was going to wait a while before I posted this chapter because I didn't want to post this moments after I poster the first chapter, but then I thought - 'The hell with it' So heres the next chapter for you. I hope you enjoy._

**CHAPTER TWO - THE GATES OF HELL**

It had taken all day and most of the night to reach Wyoming. It would have taken a lot longer had Dean not been speeding just a little bit. His theory was, the faster they got there the faster they could get back. They managed to make it to the cemetery before Jake or Yellow-Eyes, but then that was not necessarily a good thing because it meant that the Demon may have been planning something else. Dean parked the Impala behind a large tree consoling it from view and then the five of them grabbed their weapons and spread out through the cemetery. The darkness of the night and the various large tombs stones around made it easy for them to hide and gave them the element of surprise.

It was John who first noticed Jake, and signaled for the others to get in place as they watched Jake move towards a crypt placed right in the middle of the cemetery. The crypt had a Devil's Trap across its doors. As Jake got closer to the crypt, John and the others began moving in towards him, blocking any easy escape he may have had.

"Howdy, Jake."

Jake spun around and saw Sam, Bobby, John, Ellen and Dean all pointing guns at him. This didn't really seem to faze him though.

"What are you doing here?" Jake demanded

"Didn't want to miss the party." said Dean.

Jake let out a laugh, "Trust me. You wouldn't have missed this." His laughter died down as he turned and focused on Sam. "I should have killed you back at Cold Oak. You and that stupid pregnant--"

"--Someone tell me why I'm not just shooting him, please." Dean hissed through his teeth. One way to get Dean angry enough to kill you; remind him that you were the reason he nearly lost Pepper and Mary.

"Easy, Dean." said John though it was more of a warning to all of them.

Jake started laughing again, which of course only made Dean want to shoot him in the mouth.

"Okay, just take it real easy there, son." Bobby said calmly, well more calmly than any one else at the moment.

"And if I don't?" Jake asked, almost in a dare.

"Wait and see." snapped Sam as he gripped his gun tighter.

"What, you a tough guy all of a sudden? What are you gonna do kill me?"

"It's a thought."

"You had your chance. You couldn't."

"I won't make that mistake twice."

"Once again, Jake began laughing. Dean was really starting to get sick of his smug attitude.

"What are you smiling at, you little bitch?" Dean demanded.

Jake ignored him and looked over at Ellen.

"Hey, Lady, do me a favor. Put that gun to your head."

Ellen frowned but then her arm began to shake as she struggled to fight her own body, her hand bringing her gun to rest against her temple. John and the others were horrified as they stared at her.

"See that Ava girl was right." said Jake. "Once you give in to it, there's all sorts of new Jedi mind tricks you can learn."

"Let her go!" Sam ordered.

"Shoot him." Ellen said, her voice trembling just like her body.

Jake smirked at her. "You'll be mopping up skull before you get a shot off." He paused and glanced quickly at the others. "Everybody put your guns down. Except you, sweetheart." He added to Ellen.

Sam, Bobby, John and Dean all hesitated but they knew they didn't have a lot of choice. Jake wasn't bluffing and could easily kill Ellen if they didn't do what he said. Carefully they all placed their guns on the ground.

"Okay, thank you."

When they were all standing straight again, Jake turned his back on them and pulled the Colt out of his pocket. He walked right up to the crypt and inserted the barrel of the Colt into a small hole in the middle of the Devil's Trap. While he was distracted, John, Bobby and Dean raced towards Ellen. John grabbed the gun and pulled it out of her reach, while Dean yanked her arm out of the way and Bobby kept her steady by grabbing onto her other side. The gun did go off, barely missing Ellen's ear as it did.

Meanwhile, Sam raised his gun to Jake and fired four shots in to his back. Jake stumbled then fell backwards. Slowly, Sam walked towards him and looked down as Jake gasped for breath. A pure hatred began to fill Sam's every pore. He had tried to give Jake a chance, help him but all Jake could do was turn and follow the word of the Demon. And it was one thing to try to take Sam's life but trying to kill Pepper when she was pregnant and had nothing to do with it.

"Please...don't." Jake gasped. "Please..."

Sam pointed his gun at Jake's chest and used his remaining bullets on him. Sam dropped the gun and wiped the splattered blood from his face. Dean stared at his brother as he and the others joined him. Sam glanced at his brother before quickly avoiding eye contact. Dean looked...well horrified and Sam found that he couldn't blame him. He was horrified by what he had just done but he knew that he'd probably do it again if he had to.

Suddenly the engraving that was the Devil's Trap began to spin one way before spinning the other and then it stopped. Bobby took one look at it and knew exactly what it was.

"Oh, no."

"Bobby, what is it?" asked Ellen.

"It's Hell."

Dean stepped forward and removed the Colt. The crypt began to rattle violently.

"Take cover. NOW!" Bobby yelled.

They ran towards the nearest tombstones, diving behind them for protection. The crypt doors burst opened suddenly and a large mass of black smoke shot out then it vanished in different directions across the sky.

"What the hell just happened?" Dean shouted.

"That's a Devil's gate." Ellen shouted back. "A damn door to Hell."

"What the hell do we do now?" Yelled Sam.

"Come on! We gotta shut that gate!" Ellen yelled then ran out from behind the tombstone.

Bobby, John and Sam followed her lead, all running to the crypt. Bobby and John pushed all their weight against one door while Sam helped Ellen on the other door. Dean stayed where he was and hesitated as he looked down at the Colt in his hands. Something didn't feel right, why would Jake have the Colt? And where was the Demon. Dean checked the Colt. It had one bullet left in it. His brain began thinking over all the possibilities for that.

"If the Demon gave this to Jake...then maybe..." He paused and spun around coming face to face with the Yellow-Eyed Demon.

As a reflex, Dean aimed the Colt, but the Demon simply flicked his hand and the Colt went flying out of Dean's hand and into his own. Dean stared at him.

"A boy shouldn't play with Daddy's guns." Yellow-eyes smirked.

He turned his head to the side and by doing that sent Dean flying across the cemetery. Dean fell head first on to one tombstone, cutting his forehead deeply on the edge before falling down and blacking out for several seconds. When he regained consciousness, he winced with pain and the Demon casually walked towards him.

Sam and the others struggled with the crypt doors. Sam turned around and pushed his back against the door, digging his heels into the ground as best as he could. Then he saw his brother. Dean was rubbing his head and by the way his head was lolling to the side, Sam knew that something was wrong. Yellow-Eyes caught Sam's eye and smiled.

"DEAN!" Sam yelled and ran towards his brother.

As soon as Sam ran off, Ellen struggled with the weight of the door even more. John saw her and ran to help her. She needed the extra help more than Bobby did. John had yet to notice why Sam had disappeared.

Sam ran as fast as he could towards the demon but he wasn't quick enough and the demon used his powers to send Sam flying in to a tree.

"I'll get to you in a minute, champ." Yellow-eyes called out over his shoulder. "But I'm proud of you--knew you had it in you."

Yellow-Eyes turned back to Dean, who was finally starting to get to his feet, but again the demon used his powers and forced Dean back against the tombstone.

"Sit a spell." He muttered.

Dean tried to move but couldn't. He was helpless. Yellow-Eyes came towards him and knelt down in front of him.

"So, Dean... I guess I gotta thank you. Getting to Sam like that. Not that I didn't want to see some blood shed of course but, hey, at least now Sammy's still in the game. I liked him better than Jake anyhow." He paused before adding, "I mean, he couldn't even handle the simple task of killing your whore-"

"-You son of a bitch!" Dean spat angrily.

"Did I hit a nerve?" Yellow-Eyes asked smugly. "Now what makes you want to kill me more, the fact that I did kill dear old mommy, or the fact that I could have killed your little bastard child?" When Dean tensed up at the word 'child' he had his answer. "Oh there we go. Those father instincts kicking in already I see."

Slowly the Demon stood up and took a few steps back, then looked back down at Dean. Over at the crypt, John finally noticed what was happening to his boys. He couldn't hear what was going on but the fact that the Demon was standing over Dean, with a gun, was not a good sign. John needed a plan and he needed it now. If he just ran towards the Demon he'd end up like Sam, and Dean would be dead. John looked around rapidly before making his mind up. He muttered a 'sorry' to Ellen then ran off behind the crypt. He figured that the only was to get the element of surprise was not to come straight at the demon but to somehow go around. John was acting on pure adrenaline now. Nothing, not even the Yellow-eyed demon was going to hurt his sons. He'd give his own life to stop anything happening to them.

"What did you have by the way? A little bastard he--" Yellow-eyes paused to gage Dean's reaction. "Or a little bastard she?"

Dean's eyes flicked ever so slightly but just enough for the Demon to get his answer. He sneered down at Dean and raised the Colt, pointing it at Dean's chest.

"Well, thanks a bunch for getting to Sam. I knew I kept you alive for some reason. Until now, anyway. Oh and just so you know, when I'm done here I'm gonna find your girlfriend and I'm going to cut her neck and bleed her dry. Then I'm going after your daughter."

Dean bit down hard on the inside of his cheek. He wanted to yell. He wanted to scream. He wanted to fight back and wipe that damn satisfaction from the Demon's face but he was still under the demon's spell. The fact that he could only sit there made him feel like his insides where being shredded to pieces. It couldn't end like this. He couldn't leave Mary and Pepper vulnerable.

The Demon cocked the gun. Out of the corner of his eye, Dean saw his father crawl around behind a tombstone. Suddenly, Dean found himself praying, pleading that whatever his father was trying to do would work. Dean had never been this afraid in his entire life.

John saw his chance and ran full speed towards the Demon, tackling him to the ground. The Colt was knocked from the Demon's hand and landed by Dean's feet. Dean stared wide-eyed as his father wrestled with the demon, using all his strength to fight him away from the Colt.

Dean began to feel the invisible restrains that held him back start to break. He bent his foot at a painful angle and managed to drag the Colt towards his hand. He shook as he pulled himself away from the tombstone with great difficulty. When he grabbed the Colt, he wrapped his fingers around the cold steal in a death tight grip.

Yellow-Eyes managed to get the better of John and with a flick of his hand, he sent John flying on his back across the ground. John only stopped when he hit a tombstone. He let out a low cry and struggled to sit up. The Demon calmly got to his feet and set his gaze on John for a moment. He took a step towards him but froze when the sound of a gun being cocked filled the air. He spun around to see Dean pointing the Colt at him. Dean's facial expression was hard and before Yellow-eyes could blink, Dean fired.

The bullet went straight through the Demon's heart and out the other side. The demon shook, a mixture of black smoke and yellowish light went through his body. He jerked a few times then dropped to the ground. His yellow eyes faded to green as the Demon, finally after over 22 years died. And he died at the hands of a Winchester.

In the distance, Bobby and Ellen managed to get the doors to the crypt closed. The Devil's Trap spun in different ways once again before stopping and locking the gates of Hell.

* * *

Carefully, Dean got to his feet, still holding the Colt in his hand. He stumbled slightly due to the gash on his head. He peered down at the lifeless body of the poor guy the Demon had been in. His lips curved up just barely and he sighed. With that sigh, he finally let go of all the tension he had been holding on to for all these years. Sam and John pulled themselves up and made their way over to Dean. Sam was at a lost for words.

"Well," Dean sighed. "Check that off the to-do list."

John placed a hand over Dean's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Well done, son."

"You did it." Sam added, finally finding his voice.

Dean shook his head slightly. "I didn't do it alone." He paused and looked over at his father. "That was really stupid back there Dad, but I'm glad you did it."

"Me too, Dean." John smiled.

Sam went back to staring at the body on the ground, and a frown appeared on his face.

"You okay there, Sam?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I just, I kind of can't believe it, Dean. I mean...our whole lives, everything...has been preparing for this, and now I..." Sam trailed off with a slight chuckle. "I kind of don't know what to say."

"I do." Dean replied. He turned and knelt down close to the body. "That was for our mom...You son of a bitch."

Bobby and Ellen walked over to them, each taking in the body on the ground.

"Well, the gates closed." said Bobby

"No chance of it getting re-opened?" asked John.

"I doubt it." Bobby shook his head. "If the Colt is the only thing that actually opens it we should be okay."

"And if it's not?" Sam asked.

Bobby sighed, "We'll have to deal with that if it ever comes up."

"So, what do we do now?" asked Sam.

"We should probably get rid of these bodies." Ellen suggested.

Dean paused and looked behind him at Jake's body. Sam saw something flash behind his brother's eyes. Something almost like disappointment mixed with fear and regret. Sam hated seeing that look and he wanted to explain why he killed Jake.

Dean placed the Colt in his back pocket then started to bend down but he suddenly felt a wave of dizziness come over him so he stood back up. John and Bobby noticed him wavering and everyone finally took a good look at the gash on his forehead.

"You okay, there Dean?" John asked concerned as he took a step towards his son.

"Yeah, I just have a headache." Dean replied. He grinned and added, "But it really doesn't feel that bad." That was true, his head should be killing him but the joy he was feeling was overriding that. The Yellow-Eyed demon was finally dead and his brand new baby daughter was alive and she was safe. Therefore, the pain didn't matter.

"Even so, you should go wait by the car for a little bit." said Bobby. "We don't want you falling over or anything."

"Good to know you're worried about me Bobby?" Dean joked lightly.

"I'm worried about what Pepper will do to us if we bring you back half-dead." Bobby replied.

Dean chuckled and nodded his head, "Yeah. Well it's a good thing we're going to a hospital."

"Go, we'll meet you in a few." said John.

Dean nodded then walked towards the hidden Impala. Then Bobby and the others went to the two bodies. A simple fire would take care of them; it just meant that they would have to stay there a little longer.

* * *

Dean leaned against the drivers' door of the Impala. His head was beginning to throb and it would need a few stitches and he would have to get one of the others to drive, but he didn't care. He checked his watch for the third time in minutes. He was eager to get back to the hospital and to his daughter. He wanted to call the hospital but it was just over midnight so even if he was able to get through to Pepper's room, she could be asleep and if she was, he didn't want to wake her.

Dean's thoughts drifted to Mary and he smiled. It was a great feeling to know that she was safe and that the Demon that had terrorized them for years would never threaten her life. Dean shifted slightly as Sam came towards him.

"They're nearly done." Sam told him. "Bobby said it shouldn't be more than a few minutes. He just wants to make sure we've covered all our tracks."

"Good," Dean nodded.

"Dean," Sam began carefully after a pause. "About Jake..."

"I don't need to hear it, Sam." Dean replied quickly. "You don't have to explain anything."

"But I do. I have too." Sam paused, took a deep breath and collected his courage. "Dean, I'm not sorry that I killed him, but I need you to know why I did."

"It doesn't matter." Dean replied. "You stopped him."

"Stop it, Dean." Sam raised his voice slightly. "It does matter. I don't want you to think that I've become..." He took in a breath and quickly let it out. "I just need to say this okay."

"Ok."

"Seeing Jake, and listening to him talk, it just took me back to Cold Oak. And all I could think about was how I had tried so hard to help him and everyone else there but that didn't seem to matter to Jake. He just...he turned on us only because the Demon told him to. I just got so angry."

"Because he tried to kill you." Dean stated, nodding his head slightly.

Living the lives that they did and growing up the way that they had, made it so easy for them to become consumed with revenge. Dean couldn't really blame his brother for putting a few bullets in to Jake. Dean couldn't say that if someone tried to kill him that he wouldn't want a little revenge.

"No," Sam shook his head and frowned. "Because he tried to kill Pepper."

"What?'

"If he had just tried to kill me I'd still be angry sure but, I mean, Pepper was pregnant. What kind of a person tries to kill a pregnant woman? Jake just didn't care. If you guys hadn't have turned up when you did--"

"-Yeah." Dean nodded. He didn't really want to think about what could have happened if they hadn't have turned up at Cold Oak.

"I guess that when Jake was talking about Pepper, I just lost it. I mean Pepper's just..." Sam trailed off, as he couldn't put to words what he meant.

"Sam," Dean began as a warning, as he stood up straight and faced his brother. "If you're about to tell me that you're in love with my girlfriend, I will punch you."

"What?!" Sam yelled. "No - I don't, no." He quickly replied.

Dean crossed his arms over his chest. "Then what are you trying to say?"

"Just that... Dean this job, this life it, it isolates us - and you know it does." Sam quickly added when Dean was about to interrupt. "The only people we really have contact with are other Hunters or those who are involved in hunting, or their victims that we save. But neither of us have any friends that don't full in to at least one of those categories."

Dean opened to mouth to reply again but Sam interrupted him.

"The random women you've got phone numbers for don't count."

"Right." Dean sighed. "Sam, what's your point?"

"My point is that when I was at Stanford I had friends. I had a lot of friends and then," Sam shook his head sadly. "I got back in to this life and that's fine especially now that it's finally over, but I did miss being able to talk to someone who isn't you. Then Pepper became pregnant and," Sam shrugged then continued. "I guess I got used to her being around. I like her, Dean - as a friend. So that's why I did what I did. I just wanted you to know that you can count on me to protect Mary and Pepper."

Sam looked at his brother nervously as he waited for a reaction. Dean's lips curved up slightly in the beginnings of a genuine smile.

"Thanks, Sammy."

Sam smiled in return and nodded.

Dean was quite proud of his little brother in that moment. He was a great feeling to know that if anything were to happen to him, that Mary and Pepper would be taken care of, though Sam could probably do that in other ways than killing.

"Hey, Dean." Sam said seriously, bringing Dean out of his thoughts.

"Yes?" Dean asked. His smile faulted because of the seriousness of Sam's expression and tone.

"Now can I hold Mary?" Sam asked in all seriousness.

Dean burst out laughing.

**TBC**

**Next Chapter - Gift Shop**

**Author's Note - **_I realized after I wrote this that Jake having the Colt didn't make any sense because in this series John never made a deal to save Dean's life and therefore Yellow-Eyes never got the Colt. Um, so... let's pretend that Yellow-Eyes got it another way...He's tricky like that lol_


	3. Gift Shop

**Author's Notes -** _Parts of this chapter and some others later on was inspired by the Will Smith version of the song 'Just the two of us'  
_  
_**ukfan101** - Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for pointing out the error I made with Pepper's hospital stay. To be honest I hadn't even realised that I had left her there for so long. I was focusing more on the Devil's gate and forgot about Pepper. I hope that this story still works and that you are enjoying it anyway. Thanks for the review :)_

**CHAPTER THREE - GIFT SHOP**

Dean had no idea how long they had been driving since leaving the cemetery but to him it felt like over a day, probably because of his anxiety to get back to his daughter. In reality, they had only been driving for three and a half hours. Dean's head had started to give him a bit of trouble and he made a mental note to grab some sort of painkiller when they got back to the hospital.

So far, the drive had been pretty quite with everyone reflecting on their own thoughts and feelings. John was driving since Dean was in no condition too, with his head injury. Bobby, Sam and Ellen were all in the back leaving Dean in the passenger seat. Dean leaned against the window, holding a cloth Ellen had given him against the cut on his head. After ten minutes of driving, John had turned the radio on. Not because he thought it would cover the silence because the silence they were in the middle of wasn't uncomfortable, but because he feared that Dean may drift off to sleep and with his head injury that would be a bad thing. John hoped that the music would keep him up.

John had been driving faster than any speed limit would allow but luckily it was late and the roads were deserted. By 4.00 AM, they were half way to the hospital but John had noticed that the Impala was in some serious need of fuel and since he didn't want to risk breaking down on the way, he slowed down and pulled into a small gas station.

"If anyone needs to get out and stretch their legs, I suggest you do it now." Bobby said, before getting out of the car.

While John filled the car with petrol, Ellen and Bobby went to the rest rooms, and Dean and Sam went into the gas station to grab some food and drinks since they were all starving. Sam grabbed a bottle of water for everyone then moved onto the area where the coffee and sandwiches where. Normally they'd all would try to stay away from gas station food but for the moment it was either sandwiches or chocolate, chips and lollies...which was what Dean was heading towards.

"Dean, do we really need chocolate?" Sam asked, walking towards him with his arms full of drinks.

"I'm not eating any of that crap." Dean said making a small gesture to the sandwich bar.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Fine, but grab something other than M&M's."

Dean smiled slightly and grabbed a large bag of peanut M&M's causing Sam to sigh and turn away. Dean met Sam at the counter with his M&M's as well as an arm full of other junk. Sam paid for everything as well as the fuel since John was done and waiting for all of them outside. As the cashier was bagging their purchase, Dean noticed something interesting in a bin of toys at the side. He walked over and grabbed the toy that he had seen. It was a stuffed doll of the yellow M&M character. Dean walked back over to the counter with the toy.

"I'll take this too, mate." Dean told the cashier.

The young man in front of them nodded and scanned the tag on the toy.

"$8.50 thanks."

Dean nodded and handed over a ten-dollar note.

"Dean, you're seriously giving Mary a stuffed candy?" Sam asked.

The two of them walked outside carrying what they had brought. Dean was holding the toy in one arm. He looked down at it and smiled.

"Hell yeah." He said. "She'll love it."

"If she does then she is definitely your daughter." Sam grinned back.

Once they were all back in the car, John pulled out of the gas station and they were on their way to the hospital once again.

* * *

It was just after 6:30 AM by the time they got to the hospital thanks to John's quick driving. The only bad thing about that was the fact that none of them were allowed to see Pepper and Mary. John made Dean go to emergency to get stitches for his head. It actually took John a few tries to get Dean to agree to go, because Dean just wanted to go straight to maternity ward and it wasn't until John ordered him that he went to emergency first.

While Dean was getting his head seen too, the others were allowed to wait in the hospital's cafeteria, which was pretty much deserted at this hour with only a few hospital stuff and patients around. John, Bobby, Sam and Ellen all sat around one of the small tables.

"Well, tonight's been...interesting." Ellen commented.

"Yeah, you can say that again" Sam agreed with a sigh. He turned to Bobby and asked, "How long till we can go upstairs?"

Bobby looked down at his watch then replied, "'Bout two and a half hours."

"We'll eventually need to discuss what came out of that gate." John said, a hint of regret in his voice. He didn't really want to talk about that now but he knew they needed to and it was probably better to do it when Dean wasn't there.

"How many demons do you think actually came out?" Ellen asked

Sam shrugged slightly. "Hundred. Maybe two hundred. It was an army. Yellow eyes unleashed an army."

"You sound sure about that, Sam." said John

Sam sighed and turned to his father. "When we were at Cold Oak the Demon talked to me-"

"-What? Did you try-"

"-No, ah he wasn't actually there." Sam quickly explained. "It was more like a dream. I don't know how he did it though, but he told me that he had an army ready. He had to have meant those Demons that came out."

"Let's hope that without Yellow eyes to lead them, this war never starts." said Bobby.

"It's never that easy," John sighed. "Not for us."

* * *

Dean's head was feeling a lot better; largely due to the painkillers he'd been given. Now he had two choices; either he could meet up with the others in the cafeteria, or he could go up to the maternity ward, hopefully without being kicked out. Oh yeah like that was a tough decision. Before going to Pepper's room, Dean made a quick stop at the Impala, getting out the toy he had bought for Mary before getting in the elevator.

He knew that Pepper would probably be too worried about him and the others to be sleeping but he couldn't be sure so when he got to her room he opened the door as carefully as he could. Pepper was pacing nervously in front of the cradle where Mary is sleeping. She had yet to notice Dean at the door and he took the opportunity to look at Mary. Her head was turned to the right resting on her tiny fist. Dean smiled. She just looked so beautiful.

Pepper's gasp of surprise brought him out of his thoughts. He looked up at her and offered her a small smile, hoping to tell her in just that smile that everything was okay.

"Dean," Pepper breathed as he walked over to her. Her eyes scanned his face worrying. "Are you okay?" She asked while reaching a hand up to touch his stitches.

Dean grabbed her wrist just before she touched his skin and brought her fingers to his lips kissing them briefly while murmuring, "It looks worse than it feels."

Pepper sighed again so Dean opened his arms out and leaned in to kiss her. Pepper moved close against him and wrapped her arms around his back hugging him tightly. Dean kissed her cheek then her neck and shoulder before pulling her tighter against him. He'd really missed her. It was a strange feeling that he couldn't really express but there was just something about having a family to come home to after a hunt that made it worth all the pain in a way that Dean had never felt before.

Several moments later, Pepper stepped out of Dean's embrace and led him over to the bed. They sat down on the edge and Dean carefully wheeled the cradle around so that he could see Mary.

"So...what happened?" Pepper carefully asked

Dean turned to look at Mary and smiled.

"It's over."

* * *

Dean had just finished telling Pepper every detail of what had happened at the cemetery. She was almost as relieved as he was that they'd finally got the Demon after all these years.

Pepper was leaning against the pillows now while Dean still sat on the edge, keeping a close eye on Mary.

"I can't really believe it."

"Yeah, that's pretty much how we all feel right now." Dean admitted.

Mary started to make small whimpering noises that turned into small cries as she woke up. Dean all but jumped of the bed as he moved to the cradle.

"Hey, Mary." Dean said quietly as he gently picked her up and held her against his chest. "Shh, it's alright baby. Daddy's here."

Pepper watched as Dean rocked Mary until her cries died down. Dean shifted the baby so that she was cradled in one arm, then with his other hand, he stroked her hair and occasionally he leaned in and kissed her.

"She really missed you." Pepper told him.

"She did?" Dean asked amazed.

Pepper nodded.

"I missed her too." Dean sighed. "I actually started missing her before I even got in the elevator." He admitted. "I never want to leave her for that long ever again. I don't want to miss out on anything with her, Pep."

Pepper reached out and stroked his jaw with the backs of her fingers.

"You won't." She assured him.

She kissed him lightly then pulled back and kissed Mary's forehead. Dean looked at her for a moment before looking back down at Mary. Her bright green eyes stared back at him and Dean just hoped she forgave him for leaving her for so long. She grabbed onto his index finger with her tiny hand and he smiled brightly. God, he loved this baby.

Pepper leaned back against her pillow and then frowned when she saw something yellow in the corner behind the door.

"Ah, Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"What's that?" Pepper asked while pointing to the door.

Dean looked up and turned to where she was pointing then grinned. It was the toy he'd brought Mary. He had dropped it without thinking as he walked in.

"That's something I got for Mary." Dean replied

"Oh," Pepper sighed excitedly as she climbed off the bed.

Dean turned back to smile down at Mary but he could see Pepper move out of the corner of his eye. She walked to the door and bent down to pick up the door. Dean heard her laugh when she saw what it actually was.

"Dean, you brought her the yellow M&M." Pepper said cheerfully.

"I thought it was cool." Dean shrugged.

Pepper laughed again and walked back over to him. She leaned up and kissed his cheek lightly. "I'm sure Mary will too."

They simply talked and laughed after that for the next few hours. It was a nice change for Dean from everything else he'd been feeling all night. It wasn't until Pepper was done feeding Mary, that Dean realized that it was almost 9:00 AM, which meant that finally he could share Mary with everyone else that he cared about. Especially his father and Sammy who had yet to hold Mary, then again Bobby hadn't held her either.

"It's nearly visiting hours." Dean told her.

"Oh, yeah." Pepper smiled up at him. "Where are Granddad and the others anyway?"

"Cafeteria," Dean said. "But they'll probably be coming up soon."

"Is Sammy aloud to have a cuddle now, or is he still band?" She asked, with a grin.

Dean grinned back and reached out to take Mary back from Pepper.

"Nah, he's earned a few cuddles." Dean said as he rocked Mary in his arms once again.

Pepper laughed before she stood up and moved until she was standing in front of him. She spent a few minutes lightly running her fingers over Mary's nose before she looked up at Dean.

"Hey, Dean, do you think you could take Mary for a walk to meet the others?" Pepper asked him.

"Why?" He asked, looking up at her with a slight frown. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just want to have a shower."

"A shower?"

She nodded, "I haven't had a chance to really have a proper one yet. Just go for a walk, maybe get yourself some breakfast then come back up later, okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, besides I doubt I'm the one that everyone wants to see anyway." She joked with a smile.

Dean leans over and kissed her quickly then pulls back with a huge grin.

"I'm bring the others up in like half an hour or so," He told her. "That enough time for you?"

"That'll be great." She said and kissed him again.

Dean shifted Mary in his arms. "Come on, Mary." He smiled down at his daughter. "I have some people who really want to meet you."

He almost made it to the door when Pepper called out to him, causing him to stop and turn back to her.

"Dean, wait. I have something for you to give to Sammy."

Dean frowned and walked back over to her. "Something for Sam?"

"Ah-ha." Pepper nodded and pulled a piece of paper from on top of the small cupboard beside her hospital bed.

"What is it?" Dean asked as Pepper held it out to him.

"A copy of Mary's birth certificate." Pepper said with a smile.

"Why would you give--" Dean began to ask but stopped when he actually saw the reason why she wanted Sam to read it. He took hold of the certificate with one hand and grinned. "Yeah?" He asked.

Pepper nodded. "Yeah."

* * *

Down in the cafeteria, John and the others and grabbed themselves some coffees as well as some things available to eat for breakfast, not that they hadn't filled up on Dean's junk food on the way here but they were all still a little peckish or maybe it was just that eating kept them busy while they waited to see Pepper and the baby.

"Can we go up yet?" Sam asked, not for the first time.

"In a minute, Sam." John sighed.

"You're not the only one who wants to see Mary." said Bobby.

"And Pepper." Ellen added as she drank her coffee.

"Oh ah, yeah of course." Bobby said quickly. "I didn't forget Pepper."

Ellen smiled and shook her head behind her coffee mug.

None of them noticed when Dean walked in.

"Where do you think Dean is now?" Sam asked, though no one doubted that he would have made his way to Pepper's room.

"Cafeteria." Dean said casually behind them.

They all turned around, a little surprised to see him there. The four of them abandoned their coffees and they all stood up all crowding around the little baby in Dean's arms.

"Hi, guys. Miss me." Dean grinned. Judging by the way everyone was looking at his daughter he'd say that no, he wasn't the one that they missed.

"Hi, Son." John replied, yet still without taking his eyes off Mary.

Mary was looking up at these four new people with interest.

"So, can I have a hold now Dean?" Sam asked with a mixture of excitement and.

Dean looked up at his brother and was instantly amused. Sam was nearly bouncing with excitement and Dean was once again reminded that his little girl would be loved by so many people.

"No."

Sam's smile was suddenly replaced with a frown. "What? But you said--"

"--You read that first." Dean said, as he handed the birth certificate over to his little brother. "Then you can have a hold."

Sam was still frowning as he watched Dean hand Mary over to their father.

"But that's not fair." Sam pouted.

Dean rolls his eyes and sits down in one of the now vacated seats. "Would you just read the damn thing, Sammy."

Sam finally read the birth certificate as John sat down and rocked Mary in his arms. Bobby and Ellen took their seats and pulled them closer to John so they could get a better look at the baby. Dean sat back in his chair and munched on someone's toast while watching his daughter.

John had almost forgotten how small Mary was. She was a lot smaller than either Dean or Sam had been when they where first born. Even now, as he held her in his arms, John still found himself amazed that she actually existed.

"Dean, is this true?" Sam asked, obviously finished reading what Dean wanted him to see. "I mean, this isn't a fake or anything."

"It's true, Sam."

"Wow." Sam sighed "I, ah...thanks I guess."

"Don't thank me, it was Pepper's idea." Dean replied. "I didn't even know she did it 'till about fifteen minutes ago."

"Ah, what are you two talking about?" Bobby asked.

"Mary's full name." Dean replied with a huge grin. "Tell 'em Sam."

Sam looked down at the birth certificate in his hand and read loudly. "First name: Mary. Middle name: Samantha. Last name: Winchester."

"Mary Samantha Winchester?" John asked.

"Yep." Dean nodded.

"And that was Pepper's idea?"

"Yeah, actually her entire name was Pepper's idea even Winchester was her idea." Dean explained.

"I wasn't sure about that." said Bobby. "With you two not being married I would have thought the baby would have Pepper's last name."

"Well, Winchester is --"

"--Easier to say." said John as he remembered what Dean had said to him in his dream.

"Ah yeah. Exactly." Dean nodded.

"I think it suits her." Ellen commented.

"Yeah, so do I." Dean smiled. "And I recon she likes it too." He added as he watched his daughter as she lay in her grandfather's arms.

She wasn't smiling or anything but Dean knew that she was happy. His baby girl, named after two of the most important people in his life - his mother and his little brother.

"Where is Pepper, anyway?" Ellen asked. "There's nothing wrong?"

"Nah, she just wanted to have a shower."

"Okay, I read now I want to hold." Sam said and reached out towards his father to take the baby.

John pulled back a bit, "Wait your turn, Sam."

"I have been waiting my turn." Sam complained. "I wasn't allowed to hold her before."

"That's your own fault." said Bobby. "Anyway, who says your next in line? I'm next. Hand her over Winchester." He ordered John.

John shifted Mary closer to him. "No, I'm not done yet."

"Dad--" Sam began.

"--If you three are just going to argue then Mary and I can always go elsewhere." Dean said and even though he was semi-serious, there was a smile gracing his lips.

John sighed and carefully placed Mary in Bobby's arms. He knew that it was better to give her to someone else than have Dean take her out of the room. Sometime later, after everyone had had a long cuddle of the baby she began to fuss a little so Dean immediately took her back into his arms, which settled her down rather quickly.

A nurse walked over to them and smiled down at Mary.

"Dean Winchester?" She asked

"Yeah?"

"Ah, Pepper sent me to tell you that she's ready for visitors now."

"Oh, thanks." Dean grinned at the nurse and then stood up. He shifted Mary so that her head rested against the hollow of his neck. "Hey, Mary you wanna see go see mommy now?" He asked the little girl who made a few gurgling noises. Dean smiled, "Alright then. Come on you lot."

John and the others stood up as well and after clearing their table as quickly as they could they all followed Dean.

On the way to the elevators, they passed the hospital's gift shop that had just opened up for the day.

"I'll just be a minute." said Bobby. "I wanna get something for Pepper."

"Ok, we'll see you up there." Dean nodded then placed a gentle kiss on Mary's head.

Ellen pressed the up button for the elevators and the four of them waited for the doors to open.

"I'm gonna go help Bobby." Sam announced. "Maybe get something as a thank you for Mary's middle name."

"You know, you guys are gonna make me look bad." Dean called out as Sam hurried towards the gift shop. He turned back to Ellen and his father and said in a softer voice, "I haven't gotten Pep anything."

"Well if it wasn't for you she wouldn't have Mary, so I think you're okay for now." said Ellen.

Dean stroked Mary's hair and laughed.

John smiled softly as he watched his granddaughter's tiny chest rise and fall as she drifted to sleep against her father's chest. All this talk of buying gifts got John thinking of something. Something he did long ago and looking at Mary, he knew that it was something he wanted to do again.

"Hey, Dean I have a few things to take care of."

"What? What could you possibly have to do right now?" Dean asked. If he hadn't been talking to his father, it would have come out as a demand and not a question.

John sighed, "It'll only take a few hours."

For once, John couldn't really fault Dean for being demanding, he had every right too and without a real explanation, it probably baffled Dean as to what could be more important than spending time with baby Mary.

"I'll be back later." John said. He reached out rubbed his fingers over the back of Mary's hand, which was resting under Dean's collarbone. "Bye, Mary."

As John turned to leave the doors to the elevator opened up. With a frown, Dean kissed Mary one more time and then stepped into the cart. Ellen walked in behind him and pressed the number to the floor they wanted to go to. She turned to Dean once the doors closed again and offered him a smile.

"Don't worry, Dean. Whatever it is that John is doing I'm sure it's important."

"Yeah, sure." Dean sighed a little sadly. He thought the days of his father running off without a word would be long gone by now. Apparently he was wrong.

"Dean, if you knew how much your father has changed over these last few months you'd know I'm right."

Dean rubbed Mary's back and looked up at Ellen. "What do you mean?"

"It's obvious that he loves Mary. I don't think he'd leave unless he thought he had to, and even so I doubt he'll be gone long."

Dean nodded, "Maybe your right."

"Trust me I am." Ellen smiled then walked out once the doors re-opened.

* * *

Pepper was sitting cross-legged against her pillows when Dean and Ellen walked in. Pepper smiled brightly at them and was about to say something but Dean placed a finger to his lips then looked down at their daughter, who was asleep now. Pepper sighed and nodded.

"Hey, Pepper." Ellen said softly so as not to disturb the sleeping baby.

She sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned over to hug Pepper. The young mother embraced her back while Dean sat down beside her and leaned his back against the pillows while still holding Mary as she slept. He could put her in the cradle but then he wouldn't be holding her and Dean didn't think he'd ever give that up.

"I'm glad you're alright, Ellen." said Pepper as she pulled back. She leaned her head against Dean's shoulder and let out a sigh. "I'm sorry about your bar though, and everyone who died. Especially Ash."

Dean turned his head and kissed the top of Pepper's head. He had hated telling her about the RoadHouse, even more so what happened to Ash. He knew how close she had been to him.

Ellen nodded sadly. "I'll organize the memorials later if you want to come."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Pepper asked.

"No, I think you two have enough on your plates with this little one." Ellen said, tilting her head towards Mary.

"Ellen, what are you going to do about the RoadHouse?" Dean asked.

"Well, first I thought I'd spend some time up with Jo." Ellen replied. "Then I'll work everything else out later."

"Hhmm." Pepper sighed then lifted her head off Dean's shoulder. "Ah, where are the others?" She asked as if finally realizing they weren't there.

"Bobby and Sam are down in the gift shop." Dean told her.

"Ooh more presents." Pepper grinned.

Dean chuckled slightly. Several minutes later, Bobby and Sam came into the room carrying between them what Dean would swear was everything in the gift shop. They had pink and white balloons some of which had the word 'congratulations' written across them. There was a giant wicker basket filled with stuffed bears, and a number of other animals. They had at least four gift bags each filled with whatever baby clothes they thought would fit Mary, and as well as all that they had a bouquet of yellow roses.

Dean, Ellen and Pepper stared agape at everything as Sam and Bobby spread everything around the room as quietly as they could after seeing that Mary was asleep.

"Did you two leave anything in the shop?" Dean asked.

"Ah," Sam looked around at everything. "Everything for baby boys."

"Wasn't the plan to get something for Pepper?" Ellen asked, amused by everything.

"The flowers are for Pepper." said Bobby before he leaned down and kissed Pepper's cheek. "How are you feeling Pepper?"

"I feel great." Pepper smiled up at him.

"Alright, so I get the flowers but don't you think you may have gone a little overboard with everything else?" asked Dean.

"Like you wouldn't have." Sam shot back.

Pepper laughed and shook her head. "You're going to spoil her you know."

"So? She's my great granddaughter." Bobby replied. "I can spoil her all I want."

"Hey Dean, where's dad?" Sam asked.

"I have no idea." Dean replied. "He said he had something to do."

"What the hell did he have to do?" Sam demanded angrily causing his voice to rise slightly.

The loudness of Sam's voice caused Mary to whimper against her father's chest before her eyes opened and she started to cry. Dean shifted her so that she was cradled in the crook of his elbow. He shot a stern glare at his brother before rocking Mary back and forth.

Sam seemed to be horrified that he'd woken the baby.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean too...I'm really sorry." Sam apologized.

Pepper carefully took the baby from Dean and as she did so, Dean glared at his brother once more. Mary kept crying in Pepper's arms.

"Hold on, Pepper." said Bobby before he picked up one of the gift bags.

Dean and Pepper turned to him and frowned then they watched as he pulled out a small purple pacifier. Dean smiled at Bobby then took the pacifier from him. Dean leaned over and smiled down at the baby.

"Hi, Mary. Did mean ol' Uncle Sammy wake you up, huh?"

"I'm really, really sorry." Sam said again.

Dean rolled his eyes and shook his head. He smiled once again as he showed Mary the pacifier. She continued to cry so Dean carefully put it into her mouth. She cried around it for a few minutes and then began sucking on it. Her cries turned to whimpers and then died down again but she didn't go back to sleep. Pepper sighed as a smile crept onto her face.

"I'm really sorry, Dean." Sam began as he walked over to the bed. "I didn't mean to be so loud, honest."

"You're just lucky I don't want any violence around my daughter." Dean replied.

Sam swallowed nervously and nodded. It really didn't matter that Dean couldn't punish him, because Sam was already beating himself up over having woken Mary.

"Just make sure it doesn't happen again, okay Sammy."

Sam looked at Pepper and nodded vigorously. There was no way he was making that mistake again.

* * *

By midday, Ellen had left to call Jo and make arrangements for what she was going to do now that the RoadHouse was gone. She also promised to come by for a visit before she left town though. Bobby and Sam were sitting in some of the hospital's plastic chairs that they had pulled up to the bed. Dean and Pepper were still sitting side by side against the pillows both looking over everything that Sam and Bobby and bought. Mary had been fed, bathed and changed by this point and was now being rocked in Bobby's arms. Bobby had only just gotten Mary off Sam. Dean really had no idea what he was going to do if his family kept fighting over who was going to hold his daughter.

"Is anyone else starting to get a little hungry?" Pepper asked.

"Well it is time for lunch." said Bobby as he looked up from the baby in his arms. "I could go out and pick something up if you'd like. Or we could see what the hospital is serving."

"Mmm, tough choice there Bobby." Dean said, as he pretended to think this over for a moment. "Ah, I think we'll go with the take out option."

Bobby chuckled and stood up preparing to hand Mary back to Pepper. Before he was able to though, Sam looked out the doorway and saw his father coming towards him. Sam was desperate to know what had been going through his father's head to make him leave for three hours but Sam had the courtesy not to start something in front of Dean, Pepper and the baby. Quickly Sam stood up and turned to Bobby.

"I ah, I'll go out if you want, Bobby." Sam offered.

Bobby paused, then turned to look at the young man. "If you're sure?"

Sam nodded.

"Alright then," Bobby smiled and sat back down with Mary. Now that he was not going anywhere there was no need to stop cuddling his great granddaughter.

"I'll be back later then." Sam said, before quickly walking out of the room.

"That was...a little weird." said Pepper frowning.

"I know." Dean agreed. "He couldn't get out of here fast enough. What the hell was that about?"

"I'm sure he just wants to make up for what happened earlier." said Bobby as he sat back down, grinning at the baby.

A grin slowly began to spread across Dean's face. "That gives me a great idea. I--"

"--No." Pepper cut him off.

He turned to her and frowned. "What do you mean 'no'? You don't even know what I was going to say woman."

"You're not going to guilt trip poor Sammy." Pepper said pointedly.

"But he woke up our daughter."

"Yes and he said he was sorry. You can't use that to your advantage to get him to do things for you."

"Why not? Oh what if I get him to do things for you too?" Dean asked.

"Dean, stop being a-- wait, what kind of things?"

Bobby looked down at Mary and shook his head in amusement.

* * *

John had a smile on his face as he headed towards Pepper's room. For the first time in a long time, he felt good. Really good. The demon was finally dead and he now had a beautiful little granddaughter. Of course he would have to eventually deal with whatever else came out of that Devil's gate but for now he could spend some much needed and long overdue time with his family.

John was surprised to see Sam coming towards him. He was sure that everyone would still be in with Pepper and the baby. He hoped that nothing was wrong.

"Hey, Sam." John greeted. "Where are you off too?"

"Ah, yeah hi Dad." Sam said while trying to contain the anger he felt.

Sam was very passionate about this because most of his young life John had disappeared to go on hunts, leaving him in the care of Dean and yes Dean was great and Sam understood the need for hunting but Sam had always resented his father for that time and he didn't think Mary should have to go through the same thing.

"So where were you?" Sam demanded. May as well get straight to the point.

John sighed, not surprised. "I just had something to take care of."

"Yeah but what? What could you possibly have to do that you can't even tell us about?" Sam asked. "I thought things would be different now that the demon is dead but--"

"--I was at a bank, Sam." John said. He knew that Sam wasn't going to let this go unless he got a reasonable answer.

"A bank?" Sam paused. "Why the hell would you need to go to a --" He look up at his father with a surprised look. "--Dad, did...did you open up a savings account for Mary?"

John nodded.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to make a big deal out of it." John replied. "And I didn't want your brother to know."

Sam nodded, "I'm sorry, Dad. I thought...well..."

"It's okay Sam. I don't blame you, but just know from now on that I will be putting Mary first." John said and his tone boarded a little on his I'm-your-father-and-that's-the-end-of-it.

Sam nodded and smiled as he visibly relaxed. "So did you put in $100 like you did with me and Dean?"

"No," John replied and shook his head. His own smile coming back to his face. "I put in most of the money I had on me, so about $250. And when I get my winnings from our bet I'll put that in too."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that." Sam laughed and all the anger he'd felt minutes ago disappeared. "Dad, just one question though."

"Yes, Sammy."

"What's to stop you from taking the money back out again if you ever need it?"

"I've arranged it so that anyone can put money in but it can only be taken out again by Mary when she turns twenty-one. It's the only way I could trust that nothing would happen to it."

"Wow dad," Sam sighed.

"Don't make a big deal out of it Sam." said John then he gestured towards Pepper's room. "Shall we go in?"

"Oh, yeah I, ah actually just offered to get lunch so I'll see you later."

"Alright, son." John patted his son's shoulder then stepped past him. His smile never leaving his lips.

* * *

"Dean, what are you doing?" Sam asked with a sigh.

"I'm trying to put this damn thing in properly." Dean snapped.

The 'thing' that Dean was talking about was the car capsule Bobby had picked up after lunch. Now they had two capsules, one being back at Bobby's but that was fine since they did have two cars anyway. Dean was leaning in through the back, trying to put the capsule in the middle of the back seat.

"You had it in properly twenty minutes ago." Sam sighed again. "It was fine how it was.'

Dean ignored him and went back to adjusting the settings on the seat. Dean didn't need it to be fine; he needed it to be perfect and wouldn't except anything less when it came to his daughter's safety.

Sam looked at his brother and shook his head. He was sitting on the other side of the car seat. They'd been out here since 4:15 PM and it was now almost 5:00 PM because Dean was never satisfied with how the capsule was going in. Sam hoped that Dean was satisfied soon since he and the others were due to leave at 5:00 PM and Sam wanted to go up and see Mary one more time before they left.

They'd all decided that John, Bobby and Sam would catch a cab back tonight and Dean, Pepper and Mary would drive back in the morning. It had taken a while for everyone to agree to that especially since no one wanted to leave Mary, but they did agree which was why Bobby and John were currently upstairs talking to Pepper while Sam stayed to help Dean with the car capsule.

"HA!" Dean called out a few minutes later. He sat back with a triumphant grin.

"Finally got it in right then?" Sam asked.

"Damn right I did." Dean looked at Sam and grinned. "Alright, Sammy lets go back up."

Dean and Sam both got out of the car and closed the doors. Dean made sure the Impala was locked before he headed towards the elevators that led to the lobby of the hospital.

"You sure you don't want to double check?" Sam asked as he walked along side his brother.

"Shut up Sam."

* * *

Pretty much as soon as the other's had left, Pepper had fallen asleep. Dean watched her for a moment and smiled before he walked over to the cradle where Mary slept peacefully. He watched as her tiny chest rose and fell with her breathing. Dean sighed and reached a hand out to touch her cheek. He couldn't get over how soft her skin was.

He took his eyes off his daughter for a moment to look around the hospital room that they'd be leaving in the morning. It looked empty without all the things Bobby and Sam and bought from the gift shop. Ellen had taken everything with her. She was going to drop everything back at Bobby's house before she drove to Jo's to spend some time with her. Ellen also promised to bring Jo down for a visit soon, which Dean liked because being the proud father that he was, he wanted to show his daughter off to more people.

He smiled when he spotted the only toy that was left. The Yellow M&M doll he'd bought. He looked back at Mary and leaned in to kiss her forehead. Then he bent down and took off his shoes and socks and when he stood back up he softly wheeled the cradle closer to the bed. He made sure that the cradle was right beside the bed before he laid down beside Pepper. Dean kissed Pepper's temple and wrapped one arm around her waist. She sighed in her sleep and snuggled closer to him. Dean smiled and kissed her again.

With one arm wrapped around Pepper, Dean turned onto his side slightly, reached his other arm out, and grabbed the edge of the cradle. As he drifted to sleep, his grip on both the cradle and Pepper never faltered keeping both of his girls close to him as he slept.

* * *

The next morning after breakfast, Dean and Pepper where by the Impala getting everything ready so that they could leave. Pepper opened up the passenger side door and slid in while Dean carefully placed Mary into the car seat.

"There you go, Mary." Dean smiled down at the baby once she was securely in. "Let's go home."

He kissed her cheek softly and when he pulled back, he took a moment to watch her. Her bright green eyes darted around as she took in her new surroundings. Dean smiled and leaned down to kiss her again before placing the yellow M&M beside the seat.

"Ready?" Dean asked Pepper as he got into the driver's seat and started the engine.

"More than ready." Pepper smiled at him.

Dean smiled back before driving out of the hospital's car park.

When they reached a set of traffic lights, Dean slowed down to a stop and leaned over to open the glove box. Pepper leaned back to give him more room and Dean pulled out one of his cassette tapes. He pulled it back to him and grinned when he read which tape he'd pulled out. Pepper eyed him suspiciously and watched as he put the tape in the player.

When the music started playing Pepper let out a laugh and shook her head. Dean leaned back and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel along with the beat of the music.

"Dean, you can't play Black Sabbath." Pepper said.

Dean smirked; slightly amused that Pepper could recognize the band.

"And why not?" He asked.

"Ah 'cause babies don't like Black Sabbath."

Dean turned to her and said pointedly, "My baby does."

They both turned around to see that Mary was still lying quietly; the music didn't seem to be affecting her in any way. Dean grinned as he turned back to the road.

Pepper laughed muttering "Unbelievable" under her breath.

* * *

Even with the sound of Black Sabbath filling the car, Mary had managed to fall asleep by the time they reached Bobby's. Before Dean had a chance to open his door, Bobby, Sam and John all came out to meet them. After Dean and Pepper got out of the car, Bobby hugged Pepper while Dean got Mary out of the car seat.

"Welcome home." Bobby said as he kissed Pepper's cheek.

Dean rocked the sleeping baby in his arms. He walked up to Pepper who turned to take Mary from him. Pepper sighed as a smile spread across her face.

"It feels good to be home." She replied.

"You guys should go inside." Sam told them excitedly as he grinned.

"Why?" Dean asked skeptically.

Bobby and John shared a look that Pepper noticed.

"Granddad, what's going on?" She slowly asked.

Bobby smiled and placed one hand on her back gently guiding her towards the stairs that led to the front door.

"C'mon and I'll show you." said Bobby.

Dean and Pepper frowned at one another and then they followed the others into the house.

Once inside, Pepper gasped in surprise and Dean looked around rapidly. The one cluttered and messy house was completely cleaned. There was even a new carpet in the living room along with a brand new sofa.

"Wow..." Dean commented.

"Granddad, when did...how did..."

"John and I have been getting this place ready for months." Bobby explained.

"By yourselves?" Dean asked.

"Well, mostly. Ellen helped."

"I can't believe you did all this." Dean said as took another look around the room.

"Well we couldn't have Mary coming back to the way the place was now could we." said John.

Pepper carefully shifted Mary so that she was secure within one arm, then she walked over to Bobby and used her arm that wasn't holding the baby to pull him into a hug. Bobby hugged her back and when Pepper pulled back, she went over to John and hugged him as well. John was a little surprised but he got over it and hugged her back.

"It looks great." Pepper said with a smile. She turned back to Bobby and said, "I've been trying to get you to clean the place up for years. If I knew all I'd have to do was have a baby I would have done it sooner." She joked.

Bobby laughed. When he was done, he smiled brightly at his granddaughter. "Wanna see the nursery?" He asked.

Bobby, John and Sam led Dean and Pepper upstairs. Dean and Pepper were equally surprised when the others walked right past the guest room. Since the room was hardly ever used, it seemed like the easiest option for the nursery.

"Um where exactly is the nursery?" Dean asked, hoping they weren't going to lead him to the furthest room in the house.

They stopped between Pepper's room and Bobby's room then Bobby turned and opened up the door that led to what used to be his room. Dean let out a short breath as his eyes tried to take in what he was seeing. He'd never believe that this was the same room it had been over nine months ago. As they all stepped into the room both Dean and Pepper took their time walking around and inspecting as much as they could as they tried to get over their shock.

The room was a bright yellow color with a light purple boarder around the bottom and top of the walls. It made the room seem...well cheery. The old carpet had been taken up and no new one was placed down, instead the floorboards had been polished and cleaned. There was a large blue and red rug in the middle of the room beside the wooden crib. The crib was set up with bedding and even had a few stuffed toys lying at the end. There was also a change table, a dresser, a bassinet, not to mentions all the toys that were scattered around the room on shelves and in opened chests.

Dean shook his head. He'd never imagined that they'd ever have a nursery this good. Sure, he dreamed of it as he wanted nothing but the best for his daughter but somehow he always doubted that they could anything like this. It was better than he could have imagined. In that moment, Dean realized that Ellen had been right. She told him back at the hospital that it was obvious that John loved Mary and the fact that he had helped Bobby do all of this caused Dean to realize that maybe his father had fallen in love with the idea of being a grandfather months ago. That thought made Dean feel something he'd never felt before and he couldn't put it into words, but whatever it was it felt good.

Dean turned to Pepper and saw that she was crying. He frowned fearing that something was wrong but then remembered that she still had a lot of strong hormones running through her system. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her neck, pulling her back against him slightly. He kissed the side of her neck then moved his arms wrapping one around her stomach and using his other hand to reach around and brush Mary's soft hair as she continued sleeping.

"This is..." Pepper began. "...It's amazing."

"Nothing but the best for this little one." said Bobby as he smiled down at the baby.

"Pep's right this is amazing." said Dean. "But, Bobby what happened to the guest room being the nursery?"

"This rooms' bigger." Bobby replied. "And being right opposite yours it just seemed like the better option."

Dean smiled over Pepper's shoulder. It was going to take some time before he stopped being amazed by the effort that had been put into not only this room but also the entire house.

John looked at Dean standing with Pepper, their baby girl in their arms. They were a family. His son finally had a proper family to call his own. John couldn't keep the smile from his face even if he tried.

"How about the rest of us go back down stairs and unload the car for you." John offered, knowing that the new parents would want some time alone.

Dean nodded, "Yeah, thanks dad."

Bobby, Sam and John all moved close to the sleeping baby and each kissed her gently before stepping back and heading out of the nursery.

"We'll be down in a bit." Dean told his father, who was the last to walk out.

John smiled before leaving the room.

Dean turned back to Pepper and hugged her again. When he let go he stepped in front of her and carefully took Mary from her arms. Leaning forward, Dean placed a soft kiss against his daughter's soft forehead.

"Maybe we should put her in the bassinet." Pepper said softly. "Let her have a sleep in her new room."

Dean looked up from Mary and grinned. "Yeah."

Together, Dean and Pepper walked over to the bassinet, Pepper quickly removed the blankets, and two teddy bears before Dean gently lowered the baby down. Mary squirmed a little bit and then she settled back down. Dean placed both hands on either side of the bassinet as he stared at his daughter. Pepper was standing right beside her, one hand on his arm the other wrapped around her stomach.

"Do you think she'll be happy here?" Dean suddenly asked.

Pepper nodded, "I know she will. She has such a great family here, Dean."

Dean let out a breath and closed his eyes for a moment. That was all he wanted, for his daughter to be happy for the rest of her life and knowing that she did have a loving family to support her every day meant that maybe she would be happy.

When Dean re-opened his eyes, he leaned down and kissed Mary's cheek before leaning close to her small ear.

Dean quietly whispered, "Welcome home, Mary."

**TBC**

**Next Chapter - 2:00 AM**


	4. 2:00 AM

**CHAPTER FOUR - 2:00 AM**

In the early hours of the morning, the very, very early hours of the morning Dean Winchester was sleeping lightly beside his girlfriend in their bed, (It felt weird to think of it as his own bed. Dean had not had a bed that belonged to him since he was a child) while the minutes slowly ticked by. Even in sleep, Dean remained somewhat alert. He'd practice over the years with Hunting, and watching out for his brother. Tonight as it had been every night since returning from the hospital, there was only one thing keeping him from a deep sleep and that was his daughter. His five-day-old beautiful baby daughter.

Therefore, when the baby monitor carried the sounds of the baby's cries into the room, Dean was sitting up in bed in half a second. He reached out and picked up the monitor that was resting on the dresser next to his side of the bed, and then he turned it down slightly. He hated when he heard Mary crying even though he knew that it was a normal thing for babies to do it still caused him to ache. Dean was up and walking to the door while Pepper was still getting out of bed. Dean opened the door and waited while Pepper put on her robe then they walked the short distance to the nursery.

* * *

Mary's cries were of course louder once they entered the nursery. Pepper moved over to the bassinet and Dean turned on the lamp, casting the room in a low orangey glow.

"Hey, Mary." Pepper cooed softly as she picked up the baby. "You hungry, Sweetheart?"

"You wanna breast feed or do you want me to get a bottle ready?" Dean asked.

Pepper thought for a moment and rocked Mary against her chest.

"There's already a bottle downstairs so we'll go with that." She said. "I'm not going to spend time using that breast pump for nothing."

Dean grinned as he remembered seeing her use said breast pump. That had been an interesting experience.

* * *

Dean and Pepper headed towards the stairs, Mary was still crying in Pepper's arms. As they walked by the spare bedroom, the door opened and Sam stumbled out. He rubbed one eye with the ball of his hand and leaned against the door.

"Is everything okay?" Sam asked through a yawn.

Dean nodded then continued walking so that he could get the bottle ready quicker. Sam watched him for a second then turned back to Pepper and the baby. He was still waiting for an answer but he knew that it was not serious or dangerous otherwise Dean would have said something, and he would not be casually strolling down the stairs.

"Mary's just hungry." Pepper replied. "Dean's gone to get a bottle." She paused and smiled slightly. "I'm sorry we woke you up."

Sam shook his head, "I don't really mind that Mary wakes me up." He confessed. "I'm just not used to living with a baby yet."

Pepper chuckled and looked down at the crying baby. "Don't worry, Sammy, I'm sure you'll get used to it soon. Ah, well I better get down stairs."

"Oh yeah, right okay." Sam said then moved out of his room.

"You don't have to come. You can go back to bed if you want." said Pepper.

Sam shrugged, "I'm up anyway."

Pepper offered him a small smile before leading the way down towards the kitchen.

* * *

Dean was surprised to see the kitchen light on before he even entered the room, and when he did walk in he met his father and Bobby sitting at the table. Both looked up as Dean entered.

"Hey, Dean. Everything okay?" John asked.

"Yeah." Dean nodded. "Just getting ready to feed Mary."

"I thought I heard her crying." said Bobby.

"Pep's bringing her down now."

Dean moved to the fridge and found the bottle that Pepper had prepared before.

"What are you two doing up anyway?" Dean asked as he placed the bottle into the microwave.

"It's only 2:00 AM." said Bobby, as if it were normal to be up at this time when you had nothing to do.

Dean chose not to reply because there was no point. As the microwave alarm went off Pepper and Sam walked into the kitchen. Mary is still crying and fussing in her mother's arms. Bobby stood up and offered his chair to Pepper who smiled gratefully before sitting down. Dean took the bottle out of the microwave, checked that the temperature was fine and then gave it to Pepper who placed the teat into the baby's waiting mouth.

For a moment, the only sound in the room was the soft suckling coming from Mary as she happily drank down her milk.

Dean pulled up a chair up close to Pepper, sat down, and wrapped one arm around her shoulders. With his other hand, he reached around to stroke Mary's cheek as she drank.

Sam, who was a little more awake now, sat down in the spare chair beside his father while Bobby remained standing and leaned back against the sink.

"Hey, Pepper, think you'll ever get used to getting up this early?" Sam asked referring back to their conversation outside his room.

"Probably not." Pepper sighed and looked down at Mary. "Though I have had some practice since 'somebody' made a habit of calling me in the middle of the night." She snapped and emphasized the word 'somebody'.

"Hey, I didn't hear you complaining." said Dean.

"What?" Pepper asked as she turned to look at him. "I complained all the time - in fact I complained 'every' time - 'you' just refused to pay attention."

"But you still answered." Dean said smugly.

Pepper mocked glared at him before turning her back to her baby.

"You never know, Mary might start sleeping longer after a while." said Bobby. "You were pretty good when you were a baby, Pepper. Hardly ever woke up during the night."

"Probably just too lazy to." Dean mumbled.

"Oh, that's funny Dean." Pepper replied sarcastically.

"Hey Dad, what were Dean and I like as babies?" Sam asked John.

John smiled slightly as he remembered his sons as babies. They had both been so adorable and he had fallen in love with them the minute he laid his eyes on them.

"Well, Sam you were pretty quiet." John explained. "We didn't have much problem with you in regards to sleep. Until..."

John paused; his eyes downcast as he remembered what happened to change baby Sammy's habits.

"Until what?" Sam carefully asked, though he could guess.

John took a breath; just his eyes then brought his head back up to meet his sons eyes.

"After your mother died you would cry all the time. Especially if you thought that Dean or I had left you alone."

Sam nodded but no one said anything. There was only so many times you could say you were sorry for the loss of a loved one. Even though Dean remained silent, Pepper felt his arm tighten around her shoulders.

"Dean was different." John quickly continued. He refused to live in a sad time when the future contained his beautiful granddaughter. "You would cry all the time and it always took your mother and I hours to get you back to sleep."

Dean smiled sheepishly. He was a little embarrassed that to hear that he was a bit of trouble, though he shouldn't be. For one thing, it isn't as if he had any control over what he did as an infant.

"I guess since Mary has been up every night at least three times she must take after her father." Pepper joked.

A broad grin spread across Dean's face. He knew that Pepper was making a joke, but hearing that his little girl was like him made him feel overwhelmingly proud.

John laughed silently from the look on his son's face.

"What made it even worse was that you were our first child, Dean." said John, when he managed to stop laughing.

"Why would that make it worse?" Sam asked.

"Most first time parents will tend to over worry when it comes to their new baby." John replied.

Bobby nodded, "I was like that after Pepper's mother was born. Every time she made the smallest of sounds, I was at her side to make sure that she was okay. Then of course she went through the same thing after Pepper was born."

"Yeah." Dean nodded. "I get that."

There was no way Dean was going to argue that point. Every time Mary cried a new panic and fear rouse inside him that did not go away until Mary was either safe in his arms or he saw her in the arms of Pepper. Dean couldn't even bring himself to completely shut down at night just encase Mary might need him. He was glad that Pepper didn't seem to have this problem at least not as bad as he did 'cause he wanted her to get as much rest as she could, since she did supply Mary's food source.

A few minutes later, Mary was done with her bottle only leaving a small amount at the bottom. Pepper withdrew the bottle from the baby's tiny lips, leaned forward and placed it on the table. Dean removed his arm from around her shoulder as she turned to face him. Pepper carefully handed Mary over to Dean and he lifted her to his shoulder and started rubbing her back in a circular motion.

Pepper leaned forward in her seat and rested one elbow on the table placing her chin in the palm of her hand. Her eyes slowly began to drift close. Dean looked over the top of Mary's head and smiled softly at Pepper.

"Pep," He says softly.

"Hhmm?" came her response.

"You should go back to bed." He told her.

"He's right Pepper, you look tired." said Bobby.

"Okay," Pepper nodded while stifling a yawn.

She slowly stood up, walked over to Dean, then she leaned down and kissed Mary's temple.

"Good night, Mary." She whispered.

Then she sought out Dean lips and kissed him softly. Dean smiled as she pulled back causing her to smile right back at him.

"Night, Pep."

"Good night." Pepper replied. She stood up and turned around to face the others. "I'll see you guys in the morning...or well, the morning where the sun is up."

Bobby chuckled and said, "Sleep tight Pepper."

With a quick wave, Pepper headed out of the kitchen and the four men brought their attentions back to the little baby.

* * *

"Do you know when Ellen and Jo are coming down?" Sam asked Dean.

It had been a few minutes since Pepper had gone to bed and Dean was now rocking Mary against him, trying to get her back to sleep. Sam and the others had remained in the kitchen as well, not for any reason other than the fact that they were all awake and baby Mary was in there.

"Ah, a few days I think." Dean replied quietly. "I don't know man, Pepper talked to Ellen before so I'll ask her when she wakes up."

Dean paused and looked down at his daughter who had finally fallen asleep. He smiled slightly and carefully stood up.

"I'm gonna take Mary back upstairs then call it a night."

"Yeah, I might go back to bed as well." Sam added. "Are you two staying or-?"

"-We'll probably be up in a few minutes." said John.

Sam nodded and walked out. He was dead tired and in truth he should have gone back to bed after seeing Pepper and Dean with Mary, but he was still fascinated by his niece and wanted so see as much of her as he could.

Dean shifted Mary slightly as Bobby walked over and picked up the empty bottle before placing it in the sink. He quickly unscrews the top then goes about rinsing out the bottle.

"Bobby, I would have done that later."

"Don't worry about it." Bobby tells him over his shoulder. "You just get my great granddaughter back to bed."

"Ah thanks." Dean smiles shortly. "C'mon Mary."

Dean kissed Mary's head briefly so that he wouldn't disturb her as he carried her out.

John watched his son go and let out a short sigh, causing Bobby to turn and look at him.

"You okay there, Winchester?"

John smiled and nodded, "Yeah, just sometimes I can't believe it."

"What? Mary?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah."

"I know what you mean." Bobby nodded. "I'm still adjusting to the idea. Dean and Pepper seem to be adapting to parenthood pretty well."

"Did you doubt they would?"

"Not for the last few months but when Pepper was still in her first trimester, yeah I had doubts." Bobby explained. "Not that I didn't think Pepper could handle it. She is very strong and determined. Always has been."

John laughed, "Yeah. I can see that."

"It's Dean I had the most doubts about." Bobby continued. "But that was mostly due to the fact that I was pissed he got Pepper pregnant to begin with. Really though, I can't believe how well he's doing."

John nodded. A small smile crept onto his face.

**TBC**

**Next Chapter - Great Grandfather**


	5. Great Grandfather

**Author's Note -** _I am not a hundred percent happy with this chapter. Even though I love Bobby, and he is one of my fave characters for some reason I just couldn't get into his head. I hope that this chapter is still okay and that all of you enjoy it. Happy reading._

**CHAPTER FIVE - GREAT GRANDFATHER**

At 5:00 AM, Bobby Singer woke up from a deep sleep. He sat up and stretched his arms over his head and then cracked his back. He checked the time and was surprised that it was 5 o'clock. That was a lot later than he would normally sleep especially now with a baby in the house.

Bobby smiled as he thought of his great granddaughter. He was a great grandfather, boy did he feel old but that was okay. Mary was seven days old today. To think that she was only a week old was mind-boggling. You can't imagine how much having a child can change your life even in such a short period until you have one. Now Bobby had been through this before, he had had his own daughter and of course, Pepper, but that didn't mean that the excitement of a new baby wasn't as strong now with Mary.

He stood up and headed out to take a shower. It should be free unless John was in there. John was the only other person in the house with the same sleeping habits that he had. They'd both got into a system where they didn't need much sleep but the sleep they did get was enough. Therefore, unless Mary had woken up everyone else would still be in bed. The fact that both John and Bobby were up before anyone else was a good thing in many ways. For starters, it always gave the hot water system time to re-heat for the others.

Bobby briefly wondered if he should look into building another bathroom. It was already starting to get crowded with five adults living in the one house with only one bathroom, especially since Pepper loved having long hot showers in the morning. When he had offered the house to Pepper, Bobby had really only expected to be living with her, Dean and Mary. He'd never really considered how long Sam and John would stay. However, he should have expected them to stay.

He heads towards the bathroom. The bathroom was located in between the first three bedrooms and the rooms to the back of the house, two of which Bobby had converted to spare rooms. One for him, and one for John. The rooms used to just be storage and Bobby cleared them out because he didn't really want to start sharing a room and he did not think that John would either. Their rooms were some of the smaller rooms in the house but they didn't care.

Instead of going straight to the bathroom, Bobby continued until he was in front of the nursery. Opening the door as gently as he could he took a few steps inside and moved towards the bassinet. Even though she had a perfectly good crib, Dean and Pepper kept putting her in the bassinet. It was probably because Mary was still so small, and because they could bring the bassinet downstairs.

Bobby looked down at the sleeping baby. She was wrapped up in a white blanket and wore a matching beanie on her head. He watched her small chest rise and fall with her breathing. Reaching a hand out, Bobby gently pushed the beanie back just an inch and stroked her forehead. She looked so peaceful it almost made Bobby forget all the terrible evil there is in the world.

After watching her for another few moments then he went back to have a shower.

* * *

After his shower, Bobby went straight downstairs to the kitchen. He was a little surprised not to find John there. Deciding not to dwell on it, Bobby made a fresh pot of coffee. By the time he was on his second cup he heard a car pull up outside.

'Ah, so that's where John went' Bobby thought.

The first thing Bobby saw when John entered the kitchen was a loaf of bread and the milk that John was carrying. Okay, so John had gone to the store. Bobby hadn't even noticed that they were out.

"Thanks for that." Bobby said, as John placed the milk and bread into the fridge. "I didn't even notice we were out."

"Yeah, I used the last of the milk earlier this morning." John replied.

"That's the eighth bottle of milk we've had to buy. I keep forgetting that I'm sharing with four other people."

John nodded and went to grab a cup of coffee. "Well the rest of us can't get our milk on tap like Mary can." He joked.

"You do realize that you're referring to my granddaughter's breasts right?"

"Oh." John paused and turned around with his cup in hand. "Ah, sorry. Guess I wasn't thinking."

"It's alright." Bobby shrugged, "Just wanted to point that out to you."

John offered him a slight smile and sat down.

About a minute later, they could hear the faint sounds of Mary's cries as they drifted from upstairs. Bobby quickly finishes his coffee and puts it in the sink. Then he goes over to the fridge to see if there is anything he can make Pepper (and probably Dean and Sam) for breakfast. Knowing what Pepper and that she'd be pretty hungry, after all she needed to keep her strength up to look after her baby, he settled on bacon, toast and eggs.

By the time Pepper walked into the kitchen, Bobby had the last of the bacon frying in the pan. He quickly placed a couple of pieces onto a plate along with some toast and eggs.

"That smells nice." said Pepper brightly as she sat down.

Mary made a few gurgling noises in Pepper's arms.

Pepper laughed and looked down at Mary. "That's not for you; you've had your breakfast."

Bobby grinned, "No this is for mommy."

He placed a plate in front of Pepper then takes a seat beside her.

"Thank you, granddad." Pepper smiled brightly at him. "Don't suppose you mind holding Mary while I eat?"

Bobby grinned and reached out for the baby.

"What kind of a question is that?" Bobby laughed. "Of course I don't mind." He brought Mary to his chest and grinned down at her. "Hello, Mary."

Mary looked up at him with bright round eyes. Bobby wondered if she recognized any of them yet. It was obvious that she knew who her parents were but there was no telling if she could tell the difference between the rest of them. He sat back in his chair and rocked Mary back and forth.

Out of the corner of his eye, Bobby saw John shift in his seat. He knew that the older Winchester wanted to ask for the baby but Bobby wasn't going to give her up. They had all learnt days ago that if you wanted to hold Mary you needed to get to her first. And no one had a chance of holding her if she was with Dean.

"Where are Sam and Dean?" John asked Pepper.

Pepper swallowed the food in her mouth and took a sip from the orange juice Bobby had poured then she answered.

"Dean's in the shower, and I think Sammy's still in bed."

"Didn't take long for him to sleep through Mary's cries." Bobby smirked

Pepper laughed, "Either that or he's figured out he doesn't need to wake up."

"Sam's always been a light sleeper, so I'd say he's just decided that there's no need for him to get up." said John

"Yeah," Pepper nodded. "I always found it weird how Dean could be a deep sleeper while Sammy was a light sleeper."

"It's not like they're the same person, Pepper." said Bobby.

"No I know, I just meant...with their jobs and everything."

Bobby turned to John and the two of them gave a short nod.

A few minutes later, Mary began whimpering in Bobby's arms.

"Shh, hey Darlin' what's wrong?" He asked the fidgeting baby.

"She probably needs to be changed." said Pepper. She put her knife and fork down then went to reach out for her daughter.

"Oh no, I've got it." Bobby smiled and stood up.

"Are you sure, Granddad?" Pepper asked a hint of amusement in her tone.

"I'm sure I can manage." Bobby replied.

* * *

Upstairs in the nursery, Bobby has Mary lying on the change table. He fastened the fresh diaper, and then carefully put her feet and legs into the white woolen jump suit she was wearing. He walked over to the disposal bin in the corner of the room and dumped the dirty diaper then he walked back over to the change table.

"There we go, is that better Mary?"

The baby's only response was to kick her legs and shake her fists. Bobby laughed and picked her up, putting her in the crook of his elbow. With his other hand, he tickled her stomach.

"Hey, Mary let's say you and I go for a walk." He said. "I wanna show you something."

He left the nursery and headed towards the back of the house. The upstairs wasn't as clean as downstairs but there really wasn't any need for that until Mary was up and walking and that was some time off. It was strange living in a semi-clean house. The fact that he'd been living alone most of the time caused his domestic choirs to slide a bit, okay a lot. But that was fine and he'd get used to the changes that had been made for his baby great granddaughter.

He'd always felt bad that he'd let the home he shared with his wife become such a mess and he hoped that she would be proud of him now. Actually, he knew that she would be proud of him. She would have also be in love with the little baby in his arms. Bobby also knew deep in his heart that his daughter would be proud of him too. When she died, he had promised her that he would always look after Pepper and that's what he was doing.

He continued walking until he reached a large room in the back. The main wall was curved and there was a large french window covering most of it. It was one of the rooms he didn't get a chance to clean up, so there was dust everywhere and the few furniture and boxes that where there were all covered in white sheets. There sunlight from the large window eliminated the need to turn the light on. Bobby stepped over to the window and looked down and the poor disgrace of a backyard. He knew that eventually they would have to do it up so Mary could play outside.

Bobby sighed, "Sorry about the mess, Mary. I haven't been in this room for...I have no idea."

Mary made a few gurgling noises in response. Bobby gently rocked her in his arms.

"This room used to be your great grandmother's favorite room in the house." Bobby began to explain. "She used to love this room. When she died, Mary, I couldn't bring myself to use it for anything. Now though, I think it would be a perfect room for you. You can sit in here and read with your mother, or you can keep all your toys in here."

Mary waved one arm around in front of her face. Bobby looked down at her and laughed.

"You are adorable little one," He smiled, slightly surprised that the word 'adorable' came out of his mouth. "Even if you do keep me up at night."

Reaching one hand over, Bobby ran the pad of his thumb over her cheek and down to her chin. She really was adorable with her bright green eyes and tiny features. She was so innocent and everything was new to her.

"Mary, I'm going to tell you about two very special people in my life and your mother's life." Bobby took in a deep breath then smiled down at Mary. "My wife, your great grandmother, Belinda, was a very special lady. Fell in love with her the first moment I saw her. She was too good for me though, came from a well off family and I was just a mechanic's apprentice. Yet, someway she fell in love with me."

"I'll never figure out what she saw in me but whatever it was I'm glad she saw it. I cannot believe she chose me when she could have had anyone she wanted. She was kind and genuine, and would help anyone without a second thought."

He took another deep breath, closed his eyes briefly and exhaled slowly.

"I wish she could have been around to meet you, and your mother. Belinda died because...well let's just say it was tragic and I wish it didn't happen. I have always missed her and I probably always will. She gave me my beautiful daughter, your grandmother. Her name was Kate but I always called her Katie. She was very much like Belinda and she was smart, a lot like your mommy. She's pretty smart too. Katie died in a car crash when your mommy was only ten years old. I really miss them both Mary. But I think - no I know that wherever they are they're proud of you and they'll be watching over you."

Mary gurgled and wiggled around a bit. Bobby looked down at her and laughed loudly. Thinking about his wife and daughter always depressed him and for good reason but it was so hard to stay sad or angry when he had something so precious in his arms.

"You know, Mary, Darlin' I think I am going to spoil you rotten." He laughed. "And I don't care what your mommy says about it."

After another minute, Bobby decided to head back down to the kitchen. Pepper must be wondering why it's taking him so long to change one diaper. As he walked towards the stairs, he looked down at Mary and smiled once more.

"I have to tell you, Mary, becoming a grandfather...and great grandfather is the best thing ever to happen to me."

Mary gurgled and Bobby was so distracted by her that he had not notice Dean walk out of the bathroom.

"That true, Bobby?" Dean asked

Bobby looked up startled. Then he let out a short breath. He hadn't meant for anyone to hear that, though it didn't matter he loved being a grandfather so he didn't care if Dean heard him or not.

"Of course." Bobby replied. He looked over at Dean, who was only wearing a towel around his waist. His hair was still wet from the shower. "Did you leave any hot water for your brother?"

"Ah, if he decides to have a shower this afternoon." Dean replied flippantly. He was too busy smiling down at his daughter.

Bobby looked at Dean then looked down at Mary. She was staring at Dean and Bobby could swear that he saw her eyes light up; much like Dean's did whenever he looked at her, or talked about her, or when he heard other people talking about her.

Dean reached one hand out and tickled Mary's stomach. Bobby can tell that Dean wants to take his daughter, but the good thing about Dean was that he never demanded Bobby or any of the others give up Mary to him just because he wanted to cuddle her. However if Mary ever started to cry or fuss she'd most likely end up in Dean or Pepper's arms anyway.

"Guess you're not angry at me anymore for getting Pep pregnant." Dean said with a smirk.

"I will always be a little angry with you, Dean."

Dean's head snapped up and a frown formed across his face. His hand stilled on Mary's chest.

"W-what?" Dean stammered clearly not expecting the answer he had gotten.

"I can't change that, Dean." Bobby explained. "I'll always be protective of Pepper and no matter how old she gets, she will still be that little girl that I need to watch out for and believe me when I say that no man has ever seemed good enough."

Dean nodded, his eyes returning to his daughter. A slow smile came across Bobby's face.

"You'll know what I'm talking about when Mary starts dating."

Dean scoffed, "Mary's not dating until she's thirty - no forty." He said with a frown.

Bobby burst out laughing saying, "I'd like to see that."

He didn't feel the need to point out that he'd said something similar when both his daughter and Pepper were born...and well, you know how that turned out.

Bobby shook his head and focused his attention back on father and daughter.

"I'm never gonna get used to you dating my granddaughter, but I know that she is loved and that I can trust you to take care of her and Mary."

Dean looked back up at him and nodded. "You know I will. Bobby, you don't even have to ask."

"I know." Bobby nodded. He paused and grinned down at his great granddaughter. "While I may not approve of you getting my granddaughter pregnant at such a young age, I'd never give Mary up for anything. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her."

When Bobby looked back up Dean was grinning, his gaze transfixed on the baby.

"She is beautiful isn't she?" Dean said and it was in no way a question but a statement of fact.

Bobby nodded. As he watched Dean, he felt the need to let him know that while he was getting used to his relationship with Pepper, and that he was beginning to trust him he would still put Pepper's safety above their friendship.

"Dean," Bobby began, in a tone that demanded attention.

"Yeah?" Dean asked, looking back up at Bobby.

"I'm only going to say this once but I want you remember it." Bobby began his voice dangerously low. "If you ever do anything that hurts Pepper or Mary I will not hesitate to hunt you down and shoot you in the head."

"Bobby," Dean replied not even flinching at the threat. "If for any reason I did ever hurt them you wouldn't need to come after me, 'cause I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

There was no need for Bobby to say anything after that. That was one of the most honest things he'd ever heard come out of the younger hunter's mouth.

Bobby sighs after a moment. They'd been standing in the hall for a few minutes now and surely the others would start to wonder what had happened, and just because there was no hunt's that needed his attention, didn't mean that Bobby didn't have work to do.

"I better get going." said Bobby suddenly. "Should I take Mary back downstairs or-"

He didn't need to finish his sentence. Dean was grinning as he took Mary out of Bobby's arms and brought her against his own chest. Dean's entire being seemed to brighten as he cooed down at his daughter.

"We'll see you downstairs in a bit." Dean said, then he stepped passed Bobby and headed towards his bedroom. "Come on Mary, you can help Daddy decide what to wear. There's not much of a choice but I'll trust your opinion."

Bobby shook his head and chuckled as he watched Dean retreat into his bedroom casually talking to Mary. Out of all the men in the entire world that Pepper could have ended up with, maybe Dean Winchester wasn't so bad after all.

**TBC**

**Next Chapter - Exhausted**


	6. Exhausted

**CHAPTER SIX - EXHAUSTED**

"There we go, Mary. All clean." Dean smiled down at the baby laying in nothing but a fresh diaper on the change table. "Now, doesn't that feel better?"

Mary sucked on the pacifier in her mouth and looked up bright-eyed around the room. Dean quickly got rid of the dirty diaper. He would never have thought in a million years that he'd willingly change another diaper. He remembered swearing that once Sammy was out of them that he would never touch any more, but now that Mary was here, he suddenly felt the need to do everything for her. More often than not, it was Dean who was changing her, bathing her, or giving her a bottle. Mostly just so that he could be close to her.

Dean rested his elbows on the change table on either side of Mary. With one hand, he stroked her hair and with the other, he rubbed her bare stomach.

"Hey, baby." He said gently. "You're gonna have some visitors today. Some of Daddy's friends are coming down to see how adorable you are. Would you like that huh?"

Dean smiled, as he was really excited about having visitors. Ellen and Jo were coming down to see Mary. Ellen wanted to check up and Jo had yet to see the baby but from what Pepper had said she was excited to see Mary. Dean suspected that Jo just could not believe that Pepper and he had settled down to have a baby.

Mary waved her tiny fists in the air as Dean leaned down to kiss her and she managed to hit Dean in the eye.

"Hey," Dean's smiled faulted slightly as he stood up and scooped her into his arms. "Don't go around punching Daddy. That's not very nice. Now if you wanna go around punching Uncle Sammy that's another -"

"-Dean!" Pepper hissed from the doorway.

Dean turned around and smiled shyly. "Yes?" He asked innocently.

"Were you telling our daughter that it was okay to pick on her Uncle?"

"Ah, depends."

"On?"

"Whether or not you heard me say that."

Pepper rolled her eyes and shook her head as a smile crept onto her face. She looked back at Dean who had gone back to cooing at Mary. Well she managed to hold his attention for at least fifteen seconds. That had to be a new record.

"Dean." Pepper called softly gaining his attention once again.

Dean looked back up at her.

"I'm going to take a shower so finish getting Mary dressed and I'll meet you downstairs."

"Alright." Dean nodded with a smile.

As Pepper walked out, Dean turned back to look at Mary. He opened his mouth to say something with Pepper's loud voice interrupted him.

"And don't give her tips on how to annoy Sammy!"

Dean frowned, lifting one arm up to bring Mary's face closer to his own.

"Your mommy's no fun." He told her. He kissed her forehead briefly and with his lips still pressed against her skin he murmured, "Well sometimes."

He gently kissed her again before carrying her over to the cupboard where her clothes where. For someone who couldn't wear much, she certainly had a lot to choose from. Dean shifted Mary onto one shoulder as he pulled out an outfit for her to wear. It was a light purple woolen one piece and matching beanie. With the outfit in one hand, he walked back over to the change table, lying Mary down gently.

"What do ya think, Mary?" Dean asked, holding the outfit up for her to see.

She made a few random gurgling noises around her pacifier. Dean laughed and set the small outfit down beside her.

"Yeah, daddy has good taste."

He carefully changed her. When he was done, he stuffed the beanie into the back pocket of his jeans. He wanted to show off her hair to Ellen and Jo because it was so much like his own and he was extremely proud of that fact. He really was a proud father. He gathered her into his arms again and spent a few minutes simply holding her against him. He loved the feel of her in his arms, and the fact that he could feel her breathing. It made him realize just how precious she was and reminded him that she was his responsibility.

* * *

By 11:30 AM, everyone was down in the living room waiting for Ellen and Jo to arrive. Sam, Dean and Pepper sat on the sofa with Dean gently rocking Mary in his arms. John and Bobby were each sitting in separate armchairs that matched the new sofa. All eyes focused mostly on the baby in Dean's arms, so when a car pulled up outside no one really acknowledged it.

The front door was opened and Ellen and Jo let themselves in.

"Hey," Ellen said with a smile.

"Hey guys." replied Pepper.

Pepper, Sam and Bobby all stood up to give Ellen and Jo a welcome hug. Ellen gave Pepper an extra long hug.

"You look great, Hun." Ellen told her.

"Awe" Jo drawled as she finally looked down at Mary.

Dean broke out into a huge grin. Jo sat down on the sofa beside Dean and leaned forward to get a better look at Mary.

"She's so cute." Jo commented.

"I didn't think you'd be into babies, Jo." said Bobby as he offered his seat to Ellen.

Pepper sat down on Dean's other side and kissed her daughter's hair.

"I'm not." Jo replied. "But Mary's really cute."

"Here that, Sweetheart." Dean cooed proudly. "You got another fan."

John smirked, "That seems to be anyone who sees her."

"Yeah, cause she's gorgeous." Dean stated factually.

Well, who was gonna argue with that?

"Can I get you two something to drink?" Bobby offered with a laugh.

"That'd be great thanks Bobby." said Ellen.

Jo nodded and continued fawning over Mary. Sam moved and sat down on one of the arms of the sofa. Ellen stood back up and walked over to Dean.

Dean looked up at her. He knew exactly what she wanted.

"Wanna hold her, Ellen?" He smirked.

Ellen smiled but didn't say anything. There was no need to say anything. She knelt down and gathered Mary into her own arms.

"Hi, beautiful." Ellen said softly as she stood back up. She paused and turned looked at Dean and Pepper. "I can't believe she's ten days old. Seems like only yesterday I was helping to deliver her."

"Can't thank you enough for that, Ellen." said Dean. He leaned back and wrapped one arm around Pepper's shoulders.

Ellen nodded and started walking around rocking the baby back and forth.

A few minutes later after Ellen had a long cuddle with Mary she gave her over to Jo. Jo wasn't as confidant in holding Mary as Ellen was. She was a lot like Sam, a bit tense but that was understandable since neither Sam nor Jo had ever been around a baby before. The closest thing Sam ever came to a baby was a friend of Jessica's who had a four-year-old son. So it wasn't the same thing, but at least Sam was becoming more relaxed whenever Mary was in his arms.

"She looks just like you, Dean." Jo commented.

"I know." Dean proudly agreed.

Pepper laughed because she knew how much Dean loved it when someone told him that.

"She has your eyes and the same hair color as yours." Jo continued.

"Well, Mary's hair could lighten over the years and become blonde like Pepper's." said Bobby.

"I don't think it will, Granddad."

Just then, Mary began crying in Jo's arms. Jo looked panicked and turned to Dean.

"I didn't do anything."

"She's probably just hungry, Jo." Pepper announced. She reached out and took her daughter from her friend's arms. "It's all right Mary."

Mary continued to cry and wave her tiny arms about.

"I'll go get her bottle." Dean offered. He patted Pepper's knee before standing up and heading towards the kitchen.

"Still finding breast feeding a bit hard?" Ellen asked Pepper over the sounds of the baby's cries.

Pepper nodded while trying to calm Mary down until Dean got back.

"It's not so much that it's hard so much as it's easier to give her a bottle." Pepper replied. "Sometimes it takes her too long to...latch on."

The three remaining men in the room all shifted uncomfortably. They could handle talking about nearly anything where Mary was concerned but the subject of Pepper's breasts felt too weird.

"Plus having her on the bottle gives Dean the chance to feed her as well. Which is good, 'cause I swear she prefers it that way." Pepper added with a laugh.

"You can tell that?" Jo asked

"I can." Pepper replied. "I think it's because he doesn't break eye contact with her and that makes her feel safe." She stopped and looked down at Mary who was continuing to cry. "Shh, it won't be long now baby. Daddy will be back soon."

"You seem to be handling everything really well." Ellen commented as she watched Pepper tend to her baby.

"Well, it's pretty easy when I have a house full of people to support us." Pepper replied. "Especially Dean. He's so..." She sighed. "I can't really describe it but I couldn't ask for a better father for Mary."

"He does seem to be very devoted." said Ellen.

"You don't know the half of it." John replied with a small smile across his face.

"The half of what?" Dean asked walking in from the kitchen.

He was holding a baby bottle of milk in one hand and had a burping rag over one shoulder.

"We were talking about how good you are with Mary." Sam answered.

Dean grinned and sat back down beside Pepper and Jo. He placed the tip of the bottle between his teeth to hold it in place while he carefully took Mary from Pepper.

"Shh, hey, hey." Dean said calmly around the tip.

Dean rested Mary in the crook of one elbow and pulled her pacifier out with his other hand. That caused Mary to cry louder. He grabbed the bottle and placed it into Mary's mouth while she cried. It took her a moment to realize what was now in her mouth before she started sucking greedily. Dean held the bottle and did exactly what Pepper said he would, he kept eye contact with Mary as she drank.

"You three seem so perfect together. I can't believe I had my doubts about you, Dean." Ellen admitted after watching Mary for a long moment.

Dean sighed but did not look up from Mary. "Why does everyone keep saying that? What did I do to make you all doubt me?"

"You're a hunter, Dean." Ellen replied. "Generally most Hunters aren't the family type. It's nothing personal."

"It was personal for me." said Bobby. "You knocked my granddaughter up."

"Granddad please don't use that term." Pepper sighed.

"I thought you'd forgiven me, Bobby." Dean said with a frown.

"I never said I didn't, I'm just agreeing with Ellen on having doubts."

"I never had doubts." Pepper said. She leaned forward and lightly kissed Dean's cheek.

The frown disappeared from Dean's face replaced with another smile.

After Mary had finished her bottle, and Dean had burped her she started falling asleep in his arms.

"I think someone needs to go upstairs." Dean said quietly as he looked down at Mary fondly. "Hey, Jo wanna come see the nursery?"

"Sure," Jo nodded.

Dean smiled then turned to Pepper. "I'll be back down in a second." He quickly kissed her before standing up.

"When you two get back we'll pull something together for lunch." Bobby suggested.

Dean nodded and then led Jo upstairs to the nursery.

Sam moved to the sofa and sat down beside Pepper. She leaned against him tiredly.

* * *

Dean carefully placed Mary in her bassinet while Jo looked around the nursery. Mary shifted for a moment as Dean moved his hands away but didn't wake up. He smiled down at her as she slept then leaned down and kissed her forehead lightly. Jo came up beside him and smiled down at Mary.

"She looks so small." Jo whispered.

Dean nodded. He looked down at Mary for another long moment then turned to Jo and gestured that they should quietly leave. Jo nodded and headed towards the door. Dean quickly walked over to the baby monitor and checked to see that it was on even though it was never turned off and Dean had the batteries changed every night, and then he walked back over to the bassinet and kissed Mary again before leaving her to sleep.

* * *

When Dean and Jo made it back downstairs, Sam moved to the other end of the sofa so that Dean could sit down beside Pepper again.

"Nursery looks good." Jo told Bobby and John.

Pepper sighed, handed Dean the other baby monitor then leaned her head against his shoulder. He turned his head and kissed her hair the rested his cheek against her head. He could tell that she was tired. He was a little too if he stopped to think about it.

"Yeah, not bad for a bunch of old men." Bobby said with a smirk. "No what do you say we get lunch ready?"

"Need me to cook something, Granddad?" Pepper asked slowly.

Bobby looked at her and smiled. She was leaning heavily against Dean and her eyelids kept drooping shut. He shook her head at her.

"No, you take it easy. I'm sure I can still put something together."

Pepper nodded and sighed.

Bobby headed towards the kitchen and John and Ellen stood up to follow.

"I didn't think we'd be getting lunch." Jo said to Sam as they both moved towards the kitchen.

"I wouldn't get your hopes up." Sam replied. "It'll probably just be a bunch of left-over's."

* * *

Sam had been right about the leftovers. No one could really be bothered to cook up a completely new meal, but then none of them were fussy about what they ate.

Bobby was setting plates out on the table while John and Sam placed any food they could find in the middle of the table. There was a lot of food. Bobby made dinner for all of them each night and since they hadn't gone out for long periods whatever Bobby cooked was also there for breakfast and lunch, not to mention snacks.

Ellen went to the fridge and grabbed some beers out for everyone. Ellen shook her head as she shut the fridge again. Most of it was typical for a Hunter's fridge. Lots of containers of left -over's, beers, and a bottle of bourbon in the door. Then of course, there was one shelf that seemed to be just of Pepper's food with things like fruit and chocolate.

"Right, well eat whatever you want." Bobby announced.

John had an odd moment of deja'vu as he watched everyone. Eating left-over's and drinking beers with fellow Hunters wasn't exactly the same as having a celebratory family barbeque like he had experienced in his dream but there was still a feeling of contentment. Of course, it would have been unbelievably great if his Mary could have been there but even without her the fact that he still had his granddaughter upstairs made it feel good.

Sam was about to dig into some chicken when he stopped and looked around.

"Ah, where are Dean and Pepper?" He asked.

"They must still be out in the living room." said John.

"Right." Sam nodded. "I'll go get them."

* * *

Pepper and Dean had fallen asleep on the sofa. Dean had one arm wrapped around Pepper's waist, the other resting on his knee holding the baby monitor. His head was leaning against the back of the sofa. Pepper was still leaning against Dean's side. Her legs were now curled up underneath her.

Sam took a step towards them and was about to reach a hand out to shake Dean then Ellen stopped him.

"Sam," Ellen said quietly behind him.

Sam turned around and frowned, "What?"

"Leave them be. They're probably exhausted." she said looking down at the sleeping couple. "It's extremely tiring having a new born. They need all the sleep they can get."

Sam turned back to his brother and noted the small bags under his and Pepper's eyes. They were much more noticeable now that they were both sleeping. The fact that they both seemed so happy to be parents threw Sam off to the fact that they really were very tired. And they had every right to be with the anxiety of looking after a new baby, and Mary woke up at least three to four times every night so they probably hadn't had a good nights sleep in ten days...actually it would have been longer than that seeing as how Sam and Pepper had been taken by the Demon before Mary was born.

Ellen placed a gentle hand on Sam's shoulder and smiled.

"Come on. We'll let them rest for a while." She paused and glanced down at the baby monitor in Dean's hands. "Better take that too. Hopefully that way when Mary wakes up they might be able to get a few extra minutes of sleep."

"I doubt it." Sam replied as he carefully took the monitor from his brother's hand. "Dean has like super hearing when it comes to Mary. I'm sure he'll wake up anyway."

Ellen chuckled silently.

"Don't underestimate how tired they are, Sam."

"I'm not." Sam replied as they walked back into the kitchen. "I just know Dean. If Mary cries, no matter where she is and Dean doesn't hear her it will be a miracle."

Ellen nodded, "I have to admit, I've never known any man to be as commit and devoted to their child as Dean is."

**TBC**

**Next Chapter - Uncle**


	7. Uncle

**CHAPTER SEVEN - UNCLE**

Twenty minutes had passed and Sam and the others were still in the kitchen. They had finished eating and were now sitting around the table talking and drinking, waiting for both Dean and Pepper to wake up or for baby Mary to wake up.

"What have you decided to do now, Ellen?" Sam asked, "I mean now that the RoadHouse is.... I mean are you going to rebuild it?"

"I honestly don't know, Sam." Ellen replied shaking her head. "I don't think I can rebuild where it was."

"Because of the people who died." Bobby stated.

Ellen nodded, "Yeah. However, I don't have to decide anything right now. I think I'll take a few months to - I don't know do nothing I suppose."

"If you ever need anything Ellen, all you have to do is ask." said Bobby sincerely.

Ellen smiled, "I know. And thanks."

"Are you still going to throw a memorial for those who died?" John asked.

"Yeah, that's something I need to do." Ellen replied. "It will probably take me a while to organize it though."

"I'm gonna help as much as I can." said Jo.

"I'm sorry for what happened." Sam said suddenly. "If it wasn't for us you wouldn't have got caught up with-"

"-It's not your fault Sam." Ellen quickly assured him. "Who's to say that one of my other customers wouldn't have brought this on? I don't blame any of you."

"Well I'm just glad that you were in the basement when it happened, Mom." said Jo.

"And I think we would have been in full blown panic mode if you hadn't have found us when Pepper was in labor." Bobby said with a slight smile as he tried to lighten the mood.

Ellen smiled back, "I'm fairly certain that you were already in panic mode."

"We could have been worse." said John

Ellen laughed at that and was cut off when the baby monitor on the table came alive with the sounds of Mary crying. Ellen picked it up and turned it down slightly.

"Um, Ellen?" Bobby asked when he saw her turn down the monitor.

"I don't want Pepper and Dean waking up just yet." Ellen replied. "The more rest they get the better they'll be."

"Okay, but I'm telling you that Dean has probably already heard Mary cry." Sam said as he stood up.

"You gonna be alright getting Mary on your own?" John asked Sam once he realized why his son was standing up.

Sam turned to his father and nodded. "Yeah. Besides, I want to go get her."

* * *

As Sam walked into the living room, he saw that Pepper and Dean were still sleeping on the sofa. They had both moved and now Dean was lying on his back, with Pepper lying on his chest. He still had one arm around Pepper's shoulders. Sam watched them and waited for Dean to wake up. Sam himself couldn't hear Mary without the monitor but he knew that if Dean or Pepper were awake they would be able to hear her. They always could.

After a moment, Sam realized that Dean and Pepper weren't waking up so he headed to the stairs. He was surprised that neither Pepper nor his brother had woken up. They must have been more tired than he had realized.

* * *

Sam opened the door to the nursery and closed it behind him as he walked in. Mary was crying loudly in her bassinet. Sam walked over to her and looked down as she flailed about. She was incredibly loud for someone who was so small. He bent down and gathered her against his chest.

"Hi, Mary." Sam said softly.

Mary simply cried louder, unconcerned with her uncle being there. Sam sighed and carried her over to the change table. He carefully laid her down and unbuttoned her clothes. First thing he was going to check was if she needed a fresh diaper. Over the past few days, Sam had gotten pretty good at being able to change Mary's diaper. Of course he had only done it twice before but it wasn't as hard as he would have thought. Pepper had been adamant that they all learn how to take care of Mary in every way encase she or Dean were unavailable. Everything was easier for Bobby and John who had raised babies before, though Sam was a quick learner.

"Hold on Mary." Sam said as he bent down to grab a fresh diaper and some wipes.

He changed her and disposed of the dirty diaper. After he had re-buttoned her, he picked her up again. He was smiling. As weird as it was to be changing a diaper, Sam found that he actually liked being able to take care of his niece.

Mary continued to cry so Sam rocked her and began slowly walking around the room hoping to calm her down before taking her downstairs. He wanted to give her parents the chance to rest some more.

Sam looked down at Mary as she settled in his arms. She still seemed so tiny almost as if she wasn't real, like she was a doll or something. Of course, he would never tell Dean that. He didn't want to risk not being able to hold her again.

It felt so weird to Sam to be here with Dean's daughter, and be in a house where Dean had a loving girlfriend. After Jess had died, Sam never really thought that his life would ever resemble normal again. Of course, before Jessica had died Sam had many dreams where they were married and he finally had a normal life. What was weird about those dreams was that while Dean was in them, Sam never thought about Dean having a life of his own. Now Dean had a girlfriend and a little baby girl.

Having Mary in his arms gave Sam hope that someday he might have what Dean has now. Sam looked down at Mary and noticed that she had stopped crying and was looking up at him.

"Hi, there." Sam smiled. "You feel better, Mary? You look happier."

"You are a very lucky little girl, Mary. Do you know that? You have the two most loving parents I think any little girl could want. And I grew up with your daddy so I know what I'm talking about."

Sam paused and thought about what it had been like growing up with Dean. As much as Sam liked to deny it, or claim that he couldn't remember, he knew that when he was younger he idolized his big brother (still does in some ways) and wanted to be just like him. It wasn't that much of a surprise considering that Dean spent just as much time raising Sam as their father had.

"Mary, your father always looked after me when we were growing up, and he still looks after me." Sam smiled because he knew that no matter how old they got, Dean would still be his big brother. "Just like he'll always look after you. There's so many great things that your Daddy has done for me even when he was only a child himself."

He paused and tried to think of a good story to tell Mary about Dean even if she wouldn't remember it. His mind raced through all the times in their childhood where Dean had taken care of him and there was a lot to choose from.

"I remember one night, when I was about six and your father was about ten, we were staying in a small apartment and your grandfather was out." Sam began while gently rocking his niece. "Anyway the heating system had broken down so the place got pretty cold at night and we didn't have a lot of blankets, just one each. One night, I remember being so cold that my teeth were chattering and then suddenly I wasn't so cold anymore. At first, I didn't know why until I rolled over and looked at your father. He was sleeping in the bed beside me with no blanket. Your father was prepared to freeze just so I wouldn't be cold."

Sam's smile widen at the memory. Dean had gotten sick because of his act, which had led to Sam, deciding to be Dean's doctor. He wasn't any good at looking after a sick Dean but at least he had tried.

"He really was the best big brother I could have ever asked for. And I know that he will always, always be here for you no matter what. He loves you more than anything in this world and so does your mother. Your mother is the most amazing woman I think I have ever met. I've never had a friend like her and I am so glad that she is a part of my life, and not just because of you but because..." Sam sighed for a moment before continuing. "'Cause I really love her. She's like the sister I never had, or the best friend I always had to leave behind. I can't imagine a better person for my brother to be with."

Sam spent several moments simply watching Mary as she lay in his arms. Even now, she looked so much like her father it was incredible.

"I really love you, Mary." He said softly before he leaned down and gently kissed her between the eyes. As he pulled back, he smiled down at her once again. "If you ever need anything you can come to me and I'll always help you. When I was little I didn't really have a proper home." He began sadly. "I had a good family though, even in tough times but my childhood was never as good as it should have been. But I'm going to make sure that your life isn't like that. I promise that I will do anything I can to protect you and keep you safe."

"You know, Mary I never used to think that I truly fit into this family. I mean I know that your grandfather and father love me but I always felt like I should have been somewhere else. Now you're here and I kind of feel for the first time in a long while that I belong here. You've made our little broken family complete, you and your mommy."

That was the first time that Sam had voice aloud his true opinion on his family. For years, he had felt like they were broken mostly because he had to grow up without a mother and his father was always away on hunts. Their entire lives had been based around revenge and regret and it felt so good to finally be rid of all of that. Sam didn't want to think about how their lives would be like if Pepper hadn't have gotten pregnant because Mary really seemed to be that thing that the Winchester family had been missing for so long.

It had taken Sam a few months to really get used to the idea that his brother was going to be a father and that he was going to be an uncle, and even when he was ready for the baby to come he hadn't realized how much he would love her. It wasn't until he had seen her that he knew that he would love her forever. Sam knew that it was a totally other story with Dean. He was sure that Dean had fallen in love with his daughter and the idea of being a father back when they had first found out that Pepper was pregnant. In fact Sam was sure that his brother was in love with his child after Pepper's first ultra-sound. He remembered how excited Dean had been to show everyone the photo. There was no doubt in his mind that his brother really was going to be the best father that he could be.

Mary squirmed slightly and brought Sam out of his thoughts. He hadn't realized how long he'd been standing there but he knew that he should probably go back down stairs. The others were probably wondering what was taking him so long.

"Hey, Mary you ready to go back down to see everyone?" Sam asked cheerfully.

Mary simply stared up at him and Sam had to laugh. He shifted her slightly and walked over to her bassinet. He reached in and picked up her pacifier from where it had fallen out of her mouth. Sam carefully placed the pacifier into the baby's mouth and watched as she happily suckled on it.

"Okay, Mary let's go."

* * *

As Sam walked down the stairs to the living room he noticed that Dean and Pepper where both sitting up on the sofa. Pepper was stretching her arms over her head as Sam walked around to stand near them.

"Look, Mary mommy and daddy are up from their nap too." Sam joked.

Dean looked over at Sam and grinned brightly as he saw Mary.

"How long were we asleep?" Pepper asked

"Just a few hours." Sam replied. "We would have woken you up but Ellen wanted you both to sleep a little longer."

"Yeah, I think we needed it." Dean agreed.

Pepper nodded, "And it was the best time for a, ah nap, what with Mary sleeping as well."

"Yeah, I'm actually surprised that you guys are only just waking up. I would have thought that you would have heard Mary crying." Sam told his brother.

"I did hear her crying." Dean stated matter of factly.

"What?" Sam asked, more than a little shocked. "Well then why didn't you go up?"

"You were going up there, Sam."

"Then why didn't you follow me?"

Dean shrugged slightly. "I knew you would be okay. You would have handled it if something were wrong. When it comes to Mary, I trust you."

Sam was taken back slightly. He knew that his brother trusted him with his daughter but to hear that he trusted him enough not to have to go up with him was overwhelming.

"Ah, thanks Dean." Sam smiled. "Well we've come far in ten days considering you wouldn't even let me hold Mary." He joked.

"That's because you said you were going to drop my daughter." Dean pointed out.

"I never said that I was going to drop her." Sam quickly defended himself. "I said that I was scared I 'might' drop her."

Dean shook his head. "I'm not hearing a difference Sammy."

Pepper stood up, shaking her head as a smile spread over her lips. She moves over to Sam and places a gentle hand on Mary's forehead.

"Where are the others, Sammy?" Pepper asks before kissing her daughter's hair.

"Still in the kitchen I guess."

Dean stands up and walks over to Sam. He grins down at Mary who immediately looks up at him. Carefully Dean takes Mary from Sam's arms and brings her up to his chest.

"Hi sweetheart," Dean briefly kissed Mary's temple.

Sam was a little disappointed because he had wanted to hold onto Mary for a little while longer but he couldn't really tell Dean that. It was obvious to everyone that you didn't argue with Dean if he wanted to hold the baby. It would be useless and stupid.

"You ready to see everyone again?" Dean asked Mary. "Cause I think everyone is ready to see you again."

"We're always ready to see her." said Sam.

Dean slowly smirked as he carried Mary towards the kitchen. Sam smiled as he watched his brother walk of carrying the baby. He momentarily forgot that Pepper was still standing beside him until she reached one hand up and cupped his cheek. She gently turned him towards her as she leaned up and before Sam could speak, she tenderly kissed his other cheek.

"What was that for?" He asked as she pulled back.

Pepper smiled, "For being the greatest Uncle in the world."

Sam's face broke out into a huge grin.

**TBC**

**Next Chapter - Grandfather**


	8. Grandfather

**_Author's Notes -_ **_I had the worst case of writers block with this chapter. It was ridiculous. So while I do like this chapter I am sure that I could have done a better job._

**CHAPTER EIGHT - GRANDFATHER**

"Alright, so diapers, wipes, detergent..." Dean began ticking off each item on his fingers. "Was there anything else?"

"Um, no I think that's all we need unless you two can think of anything else while you're out." Pepper replied.

It was late Tuesday afternoon. Dean and Pepper were standing near kitchen going over the short shopping list of things that Dean and Sam were about to head out and get. It really did not need both of them to go out and get this stuff but neither of them had really left the house since getting back from the hospital. Dean didn't really want to leave but he wanted to make sure that they got the best quality stuff for his daughter.

Sam and John were sitting on the sofa both looking at the sleeping baby in the car capsule on the coffee table in front of them. It was the spare capsule that was meant to be in Pepper's car but Dean conveniently had not gotten around to putting it in. He claimed that his baby was only going to travel in the best and there was nothing better than his Impala. Mary had only just fallen asleep fifteen minutes ago and even though she was not moving neither John nor Sam could take their eyes off her.

Dean walked over to the bassinet and leaned down looking softly at his sleeping daughter.

"You know watching her isn't going to make her wake up." Pepper said as she moved to stand beside Dean.

Dean had wanted to take Mary for a drive but since she was already sleeping, he didn't want to risk waking her up. He shrugged and lightly kissed Mary's cheek before standing up straight.

"And eventually you're going to have to put that in my car." Pepper continued.

Dean looked at her and frowned slightly. "I don't see the point. Mary only likes being in my car."

"How on earth would you know that?" Pepper asked, slightly amused. "She's only been in the Impala once."

"I know because our daughter has taste." Dean stated.

John and Sam shook their heads as they continued to watch Mary sleep.

"Well if she does only like your car it'll probably be because you kept whispering 'Mommy's car is bad. Daddy's car is awesome'" Pepper began, cupping her hands over her mouth as she imitated Dean. She lowered her hands and placed them on Dean's chest. "To my stomach over and over again while I was sleeping."

Dean let out a short breath, one side of his lips turning up slightly. Pepper leaned forward to kiss him. Just as their lips touched, Dean frowned and pulled back.

"Hold on, if you were always asleep then how do you know what I said?" He asked.

Pepper turned her head. Dean looked behind him to see what she was looking at and saw his brother pursing his lips together and trying to look anywhere but at them. Dean glared at him causing Pepper to laugh. She reached out, grabbed Dean's cheeks and turned him back to face her then kissed him briefly. When they pulled back, Dean looked back down at Mary and then turned towards the door.

"Come on, snitch." Dean said as he walked past Sam.

Sam stood and tried to hide his smirk as he followed Dean to the door. After the door closed, Pepper pushed her hair behind her ears with both hands and leaned down to check on her baby. John could not help but smile as he watched mother and child. In a weird way, Pepper reminded him of his Mary, especially with the way she took care of the baby. Sometimes John wondered if that was why Dean had ended up with her. As he watched Pepper lightly run her fingers over his granddaughter's face, he realized that this would be the first time that he and Pepper would be alone together (If of course you did not include baby Mary.) With the boys out shopping and Bobby gone to pick something up from a friend it was now just him and her.

It felt a little weird to John but not as weird as he thought it would be. One of the things that John found about Pepper was that he didn't feel that he had to make much effort in liking her. There was just something about her and though he would never say it, he rather liked that she was now a part of his family.

"Okay," Pepper began as she stood back up. Turning to John she asked, "Are you alright to watch Mary while I go start dinner?"

John nodded. Even though Mary was sleeping and he didn't really need to watch her, he knew that he would. Half the time he could barely keep his eyes off her.

"Do you need any help?"

"No, I think I'll be fine." Pepper replied with a slight shake of her head. "But thanks."

John nodded then turned his full attention back to the sleeping baby as her mother headed into the kitchen.

* * *

Mary had woken up not long after Dean and Sam had left, which was a little funny to John. If only Dean had waited another few minutes, he would have been able to take Mary with him. However, the fact that he didn't gave John the opportunity to sit back and watch her. She was still lying in the car capsule on the coffee table simply watching John as he waved her yellow M&M doll in front of him to keep her attention.

After a few minutes, Pepper walked in from the living room. At first, John did not notice her as she stayed in the doorway and watched him for a moment.

"Hey, John?" Pepper asked when she stepped into the room.

John turned to look at her.

"Would you mind giving Mary a bath while I finish dinner?"

"Ah, yeah. Sure." John smiled slightly

He put the toy down beside him on the sofa then stood up. As he leaned down to pick Mary up, Pepper walked back into the kitchen. John brought Mary close to his chest and rocked her a little.

"Come on, Mary. Let's go have a bath."

As he walked up the stairs, it occurred to John that this would be the first time he would bath a baby in about twenty years. He looked down at Mary and wondered if washing a baby was like riding a bike, then again he couldn't remember the last time he rode a bike either.

* * *

Once in the nursery, John gently placed Mary into her bassinet while he went into the bathroom and set up the small plastic bathtub for her. He had made sure to grab the baby monitor so that he could hear her over the running water if she cried. It didn't take long for the water to reach the appropriate level and after John was satisfied that it was at a good temperature he went back into the nursery to get Mary.

Mary was getting restless in the bassinet. Her little arms and legs where waving about. John looked down at her and couldn't help but smile.

"You ready for a bath, Mary?" John asked while picking her up.

He walked over to the change table and laid her down. He started to unbutton her top then realized that he needed something to wrap her up in. He knew that there was a pile of small towels underneath the change table.

Placing a gentle hand over her chest and stomach, John murmured, "Hold on, Mary." before he bent down to retrieve a towel. It was probably the softest towel that John had held in his hands in a long time. White and fluffy. It wasn't very big but it was big enough for Mary. John stood back up and finished unbuttoning the rest of Mary's outfit. She began to make a few gurgling noises as he carefully pulled her arms and legs free. After taking off her diaper, pulling the pacifier out of her mouth and placing the towel over one shoulder, John picked Mary up and held her closely against his chest so that she wouldn't fuss too much before he got her to the tub.

As he carried her to the bathroom, John hoped that he hadn't taken her diaper off too soon. Thankfully, there had been no accidents before they reached the tub.

"Alright, Mary. You gotta bear with me. I haven't done this in a while."

John paused as he held the naked twelve-day-old baby over the water. For the briefest of seconds, he feared that he would stuff this up somehow. The feeling past as quickly as it had come and John slowly lowered Mary down into the water. As soon as she touched the water, Mary started squirming and loudly crying. Clearly, she did not like being bathed. Sighing, John moved one hand up to support her neck and head as she cried.

"Shh, I know it's not too nice." John shushed lightly as he started to wash her as carefully as he could. "But I'll try to be as quick as I can."

John's words gave no comfort to the screaming baby. He decided to stay true to his word and washed her as quickly (yet carefully) as he could.

"You know Mary, your daddy wasn't a big fan of baths when he was little either."

Then when he was done, he wrapped her up securely in the towel and held her tightly against his chest. She continued to cry and struggle so John rocked her from side to side.

By the time John had Mary dried and changed she had stopped crying. He let out a deep sigh. He, like everyone else in the house, hated it when Mary cried. And no one more than Dean. Not because they thought it was annoying but because they didn't like thinking that she was in any kind of pain. John picked her back up, placed the pacifier back into her mouth and slowly started walking around the nursery. The nursery that he himself helped put together and of course, he would do it again if it meant giving her a safe place.

John held his granddaughter a little closer and took a deep breath, remembering the dream he had had that led him to wanting her in his life in the first place. If the world was perfect than not only would they have baby Mary but Jessica and the boys' mother would be alive as well, and none of them would have to deal with the terrors that came with Hunting.

John looked down at Mary and smiled thinking of how similar his sons were in reality to how they had been in his dream. Even though Mary was only twelve days old, there was no denying that Dean was completely in love with her. Sam had fallen in love with Mary as well. John was very proud to know that Sam was willing to step up and look after Mary if he had too. One day, John hoped that Sam found someone to love and start a family with. Now that they had finally killed the Yellow Eyed Demon, John's wishes for his family had changed. Before all he had really wanted was to kill the son of a bitch that had taken his wife away and now, he just wanted them both to be happy.

As he thought of Sam, John couldn't deny that Mary was responsible for them now being together as a family. If she wasn't around, Sam would most likely still hold a huge grudge over many of John's decisions and he would have moved on as soon as the demon had been killed. They'd been through so much over the last year or so that if Sam did go back to school at least he would keep in touch especially with Dean, but Sam would never willingly stay. Whether or not Sam was planning on staying for good or going back to school John didn't know, but what he did know was that Sam would be staying for now making them almost a normal family once again. All because of Mary.

John ran the tips of his fingers lightly through the baby's hair and smiled softly when she made a soft noise in response.

"Hi beautiful, you really do look like your father, Mary."

John let out a slow breath. It felt weird to say the name 'Mary' as often as he had been, and every time he did say it he was reminded that his Mary, his wife was gone and she was never coming back.

"Your grandmother would have loved you so much little one. I wish you could have met her. She was a very special woman and she would have taken care of you." He laughed as his mind drifted back to his dream. He remembered the first time he had seen Mary with baby Ayla. She had been gushing over the small child and had been glowing with love. "Your grandmother would have spoiled you rotten. Anything you could ever want she would have given you without a second thought. She was my best friend for so long and she was a great mother."

"I miss her every day, but I hope..." He sighed and held Mary a little closer. "I was never really one to believe in heaven, even though I know that there is a hell, but I hope that your grandmother, my wife is up in heaven. And I know that she will be watching over you and protecting you. Because that's what I would do. I really hope that she's forgiven me for the way I sometimes acted over the last twenty years. Especially with some of the things I put your father through. I put too much pressure on him and I shouldn't have done that. But I promise you that for the rest of my life I will try to make up for all the mistakes that I have made. I want you to have the best life this world can offer."

Lifting the baby up closer to his face, John murmured, "Love you." then kissed the bridge of her nose. He couldn't get over how much he loved the small child lying in his arms.

"Now, what do you say we go back down and see what your mother is up to."

* * *

When John carried Mary back downstairs, Pepper was standing by the sofa waiting for them. She had a bottle for Mary in one hand and a burp rag in the other.

"How'd it go?"

John nodded and smiled down at Mary. "We did alright."

Mary started to squirm slightly. 'Maybe she saw the bottle' John amusingly thought.

"I thought she'd be hungry." Pepper said with a smile. "John, I know you've already given her a bath but do you mind giving her a bottle while I quickly go to the bathroom?"

John turned to look at her and smiled slightly.

"Pepper, I'm happy to do anything for Mary."

Pepper grinned, "Oh I know. I just wanted to ask."

She turned around and placed the bottle and rag on the sofa for John, then on her way towards the stairs she stopped and kissed Mary's temple. John then walked over and sat on the sofa.

With Mary cradle securely in the crook of one arm, John picked up the bottle and brought it to her lips. She must have been getting hungry as she suckled greedily on the bottle. He kept eye contact with her remembering Pepper once telling them that she preferred it. She had the most beautiful green eyes he had ever seen. They were exactly like Dean's eyes had been when he was a baby. A small smile spread across his face. Even though they all brought it up a lot there was no deny that little Mary was the spitting image of her father. Dean had always looked more like his mother than he had John, so in a way Mary looked a little bit like her grandmother.

A few minutes later Pepper came back down and leaned over the back of the sofa to watch Mary as she drank.

"Dean just called." She said. "They're on their way back."

John nodded.

"I also told Dean that Mary woke up a couple of minutes after they'd left so he's a little cranky." She joked

John laughed slightly at that. Pepper sat down beside them. When Mary was finished, Pepper took the bottle and headed into the kitchen to rinse it out. John brought Mary to his shoulder and rubbed a hand over her back until she burped. He pressed his lips softly against her temple and continued rubbing her back slowly and removed the rag from his shoulder, tossing it onto the back of the sofa. Then he held Mary out in front of him and took a moment to look at her. A grin began spreading across his face but just as quickly as it came, it disappeared as Mary spat up on him.

John paused, looked down at the damage and then laughed once. It was a god shot. On his collar and down his chest, not a lot but it was still there. Mary didn't seem fazed at all. John laughed softly while placing Mary back into the car capsule. Grabbing the rag off the back of the sofa, John lent forward and gently wiped the baby's mouth.

"You just had to wait 'til after your bath to do that didn't you." He laughed.

"Waited to do what?" Pepper asked when she walked back into the room.

John leaned back away from the capsule so that Pepper could see his shirt. She smiled softly at him.

"Sorry, John."

Shaking his head and putting a hand up John said, "It's okay. It's just a bit of spew. It's what babies do."

Pepper nodded, "I'll go get you a wet rag to clean up." With that, she walked into the kitchen.

John turned back to Mary and smiled.

* * *

When Dean and Sam got back, John was wiping his shirt with a wet cloth while Pepper cooed down at Mary. Pepper looked up when Sam and Dean walked into the living room, each carrying something. Dean had the diapers, wipes and detergent and Sam had a six-pack of beer.

"Since when did we need beer?" She asked Sam, with one brow slightly raised.

Sam held one hand out, "Not my idea." He turned to Dean and noticed that Dean was busy watching their father.

"What happened, Dad?" Dean asked while he placed the shopping down.

John shrugged slightly, "Just a little spit up from my baby granddaughter."

Suddenly Dean busts out laughing. He walked over to the capsule and scooped Mary up into his arms, cuddling her closely.

Still laughing Dean says, "You shouldn't throw up on your grandfather. That's not a very nice thing to do."

"I'd take what you were saying seriously if you weren't laughing when you said it." John replied.

He tried to sound annoyed or stern but it was hard because of the grin that was threatening to come over his face. John loved watching Dean hold Mary. He'd never seen so much love in anyone else's eyes as he was seeing in Dean's right now.

"I'm going to, ah," Sam cleared his throat. "Just put these in the fridge."

John turned and saw that Sam was biting his bottom lip as he walked towards the kitchen. Well, if he wasn't going to get mad at Dean for finding the whole situation funny he was not going to get mad at Sam. John turned and looked back at Dean, who was rocking Mary from side to side with a large grin on his face. He watched them for a few moments and then stood up deciding that it was time for a shower.

Dean didn't even seem to notice his father leaving, or if he did, he didn't care. As John got to the bottom of the stairs, he turned back around to watch his eldest son with his new family. He watched as Dean kissed Mary's nose and eyes then sat down beside Pepper on the sofa. The new parents leaned against each other and held their daughter closely.

"I wonder if mommy took pictures before your grandfather started cleaning his shirt." Dean said with a laugh. "'Cause she takes pictures of everything else." He added proudly.

Pepper laughed, shook her head and kissed Dean's neck.

A huge smile spread across John's face. As he watched his son and his family, he knew without a doubt that he'd made the right decision in contacting Pepper that day in the hospital, and getting her back into his son's life. And if baby Mary was going to be the result of his choice, then he would do the exact same thing every single time.

**TBC**

**Next Chapter - The Keys Of Decisions**


	9. The Keys Of Decisions

_**Author's Notes - **__Quick everyone grab your torches and pitchforks. We're off to kill the dreaded writers block. CHARGE!!!_

**CHAPTER NINE - THE KEYS OF DECISIONS**

It was a little after 11:00 AM and Dean was leaning against the wall of the nursery, his arms crossed over his chest and a smile spread on his lips as he watched his girlfriend rock their baby girl in her arms. Mary had woken only a short time ago and after being changed, she was content in the warmth of her mother's arms. Dean liked being able to watch Pepper with Mary, almost as much as he liked holding Mary himself. Actually, that wasn't true. There was nothing in the world that he liked more than having his daughter in his arms.

Pepper began to softly hum a tune that Dean did not recognize but it was one that Mary found soothing. Dean let the sound wash over him as he watched them. He knew that he was lucky that they were both in his life, especially Pepper, because without her he wouldn't have Mary. There really wasn't anyone else in the world, or anyone that Dean could think of, that he would rather mother his child. He had always felt a special bond towards Pepper ever since he first met her on that rainy night. That feeling was partly why he never realized how old she actually was. If he had been paying attention, he might not have stopped to talk to her. Dean was not into jailbait. Sure, he could comment on how a sixteen-seventeen year old looked but he would never really try anything. He would hate to be one of those old guys that only go after women half their age. Therefore if he had known Pepper's age he wouldn't have stopped. And if he didn't stop, they never would have started their long complicated relationship and eventually they wouldn't have had Mary.

He let out a soft chuckle as he realized how much his life has changed purely because he didn't know how old Pepper had been when he first met her. Pepper turned to him giving him a puzzled look.

"And what are you laughing at?" She asked

"Nothing." Dean flashed her a smile. "I'm just..." He paused, shaking his head.

Pepper ventured a guess, "Happy?"

He nodded, "Yeah."

Pepper walked over to him and pressed her lips against his lightly. They both leaned in a little closer, with Mary securely between them. As Pepper went to pull away, Dean pressed forward and stole a few more gentle kisses and when he finally let her go she looked up and him and smiled softly.

"I love you, Dean Winchester."

Dean bent down to kiss her again, choosing to show her how he felt instead of verbalizing it. Several moments later as they pulled apart Pepper stepped aside and looked down at Mary.

"You wanna go see what everyone else is doing today, Sweetheart?" She asked the baby.

Dean watched silently as Pepper walked out. At hearing her say she loved him he got that familiar feeling of guilt in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't a feeling that consumed him by any means but it was constantly there whenever she confessed her love and he was unable to say it back. He wasn't unwilling to say it back because he did love her, it was just that he couldn't say it. There was only one woman in his life that Dean could remember telling he loved and that was his mother and he had lost her.

He knew that it was stupid to let such a fear dictate the way he lived his life but he couldn't help it. The fact was that Dean tried to avoid saying the words 'I love you' to anyone even his own brother and father. The only person in the world that he would say the words to is his Mary. No matter how much saying the words scared him he would never deny them to his daughter. She deserved to hear him say it.

He only wished that he could say it to Pepper. He knew that she did not doubt his feelings for her, and that she would never press him on it but that didn't mean that she wouldn't get sick of it one day. Dean let out a low breath then followed the path that Pepper had taken moments ago while he was lost in thought. He knew that until he was able to say the words, he needed something that would show her exactly how he felt.

* * *

Dean met up with Pepper in the living room where Sam and John were sitting. Pepper had given Mary to Sam who was rocking her against his chest lightly and John was reading a newspaper. Dean paused and had to smile at the look in his brother's eyes. Dean briefly shook off the pride he felt and walked over to Pepper.

"I was thinking" Dean began, a small grin beginning to form on his face.

Pepper turned to him, "Yes?" she asked.

"I might take Mary for a drive for a few hours."

"Why?" John asked.

Dean turned to his father and shrugged. "Just something to do." He didn't want to tell his father that he wanted to go out in search of a present for Pepper. For one thing, it would ruin the surprise.

"Sure." Pepper smiled. "A day out sounds great. I'm actually starting to miss being in the Impala."

"Oh. Well I was kind of thinking that just Mary and I would go." Dean replied carefully.

Pepper looked like she wanted to say something but didn't. Dean shook his head and quickly added, "That way you could sleep a bit. I know you're tired."

Dean hoped that Pepper would not point out that he was also tired as he was getting as much sleep as she was.

"And it'll allow you to spend some Daddy daughter time together too." Pepper said with a sly grin.

"Yeah," Dean cleared his throat awkwardly. "That too."

Pepper smiled as she kissed him.

"I'll go get her diaper bag ready." She said when she pulled away.

Dean nodded, thankful that she hadn't made too big a deal out of it. He could go out and leave Mary here with her mother but he wanted to spend more time with his daughter. He looked down at Mary who was still being cuddle by her uncle. He should probably change her into something warmer if he was going to take her outside.

"C'mon Mary." Dean said, walking over and scooping Mary up from Sam's arms.

"Bu-wait, I'm not done..." Sam weakly argued when the baby was taken out of his arms.

His complaints fell on deaf ears as Dean carried Mary upstairs. Sam folded his arms over his chest and all but pouted and John had to try really hard to suppress the grin that spread across his face.

* * *

Dean and Pepper came back downstairs a few minutes later. Dean had the diaper bag over one shoulder and Mary was cradled in the crook of one arm. The baby now wore a matching woolen one piece with beanie.

"Okay, Mary say bye to mommy."

Pepper smiles and bends forward to kiss Mary's nose. "Bye Sweetheart. You have fun with Daddy." She pulled back and lightly kissed Dean's cheek and said, "Try to be good."

"Aren't I always good?" Dean asked.

"Do you really expect me to answer that?"

Dean huffed. "Let's go Mary. Mommy's being mean to Daddy."

Mary gurgled in response making Dean laugh as he headed towards the door. "Yeah I knew you'd be on my side baby."

As the door closed behind him, Pepper shook her head in amusement and sat down on the sofa beside Sam. She let out a low deep sigh.

* * *

Dean opened the passenger door of the Impala and threw the diaper bag onto the seat then he moved to the back door and opened it before carefully bending down to place Mary in the car seat. As he checked to make sure the seat was in correctly, he smiled when he saw Mary's bright eyes looking up at him.

"Hey, Mary." He said softly, reaching a hand out to stroke her cheek. "You ready to spend the day out with daddy? We're gonna go shopping and you can help me find something for mommy."

Mary simply blinked in response. Dean kissed her nose before climbing back out. As he started the engine, he put in one of his cassette tapes and turned the volume down slightly. While Mary didn't seem to have a problem with his choice of music, she may have a problem with it being loud. Dean pressed play and the sounds of Metallica filled the car. As he put the car into drive, he looked at Mary through the rearview mirror and grinned.

* * *

"Wow," Pepper sighed.

Several minutes had past since Dean had left. Sam and Pepper were still sitting on the sofa. John had gone into the kitchen and Bobby, who had been working in the junkyard, was now sitting in an armchair.

"What?" Bobby asked his granddaughter.

"It's just..." Pepper looked over at him. "I don't think I've ever been away from Mary for this long. I mean with such a huge distance between us."

"Well, she's with Dean so she's fine." said Sam.

"I know that, Sammy." Pepper sighed. "It's just weird. I mean I--"

"--You miss her." Bobby supplied with a smile.

"I really do." Pepper nodded.

Sam smiled and put one arm around her shoulder, pulling her against him.

"I didn't think I'd miss her this much and she's only been gone for fifteen minutes. All I wanna do is call Dean to check up on her." She paused and shook her head. "I never thought I'd be like this."

"Pepper, you have to remember that you're still getting used to being a mother, and baby Mary is only fourteen days old. What you're feeling is perfectly normal. You'll even find that you'll feel this way for a few years."

"I know Dean will." Sam added

"Yeah, that's true." Pepper agreed.

"Of course it is. Why else do you think he took her with him."

Pepper laughed and rested her head against Sam's shoulder.

* * *

Dean pulled the car in an available parking space in the shopping mall's underground parking lot. He had been driving for almost an hour and Mary was now sleeping in the back. He almost hated to get her out but he had been getting good at picking her up without waking her. He got out of the car and walked over to the trunk where the pram that Ellen had brought them. He pulled it out and set it up then wheeled it over to the passenger door.

When he opened the back door and bent down to get Mary, she moved slightly but did not wake up. Dean held her close to his chest and rocked her gently for a moment.

"Alright, Mary." He said as he settled her into the pram. He reached over to the passenger seat and grabbed the diaper bag. "Let's go see if we can find a present for mommy."

Dean pulled out a small blanket from the diaper bag and covered his sleeping daughter. He let out a small chuckle as he began pushing the pram towards the shop's entrance. He never would have seen himself in this spot a year ago. Pushing a pram through a shopping mall while searching for the perfect gift for his girlfriend just wasn't something that had been in his long term plans. Though now that he was here he found that he really didn't mind it, well except for not knowing exactly what to get for Pepper, but being with his baby daughter was a definite plus.

* * *

"...one time when we where in school Dean got slapped by two different girls at the same time cause they found out he was seeing both of them."

It was close to 12:30 PM and Sam was sitting on the sofa beside Pepper. He was trying to keep her mind off Mary by telling her stories about Dean when they were little. Embarrassing stories that he could never tell her when Dean was around. Pepper had been enjoying Sam's stories but he could tell that she still missed Mary a great deal.

"That doesn't surprise me." Pepper replied as she closed her eyes.

Sam nudged her slightly.

"Hey, why don't you go lay down? Dean was right you should use this time to rest."

She opened her eyes and nodded. "Yeah you're probably right. Okay," She sighed and stood up. "Just let Granddad and John know that I'll be upstairs."

"Sure." Sam nodded.

Pepper bent down and kissed his cheek quickly.

"Thanks for helping to keep me distracted." She stood back up again and smiled. "And thanks for all the new ammo on Dean."

"I don't think you needed any more." Sam laughed. "You just need to say 'I went through labor for you' and I'm sure you'll win."

Pepper laughed as she headed upstairs.

* * *

This was turning out to be a very long day. Dean had walked up and down the mall three times, going past all the different shops hoping that something in one of the display windows would jump out at him and give him an idea on what to give Pepper but so far, nothing had. It was hard shopping for a woman and Dean was glad that he had never had to do it before. Sure, he had given Pepper birthday and Christmas presents before but this was different. This had to mean something; it had to say everything that he couldn't say.

Mary had woken up not that long ago and Dean was glad for the temporary distraction. Not to mention all the looks he was getting from women who just had to come and cooed over her. He just wouldn't tell Pepper that half of them tried to flirt with him as well.

"Well, Mary I have no idea." He announced while looking down into the pram. "What do you think mommy will want?"

Mary simply stared up at him.

Dean sighed, "Thanks."

He walked past one of the jewelers shops and paused just outside the door. In the display window there was a sign that read 'Half price off all engagement rings. Limited time only'. Dean read the sign then looked at all the rings displayed in velvet cases around the sign.

"Think mommy wants an engagement ring?" Dean asked Mary, who gurgled in response. "No, she probably doesn't."

Dean shook his head and pushed the pram away from the shop. An engagement ring wasn't what he was looking for. If he asked Pepper to marry him she may not even say yes. After all, she did say that she wasn't ready to get married. Well at least a ring would be simple and easy to get. Dean looked down at his daughter and smiled.

"Maybe Hallmark makes a card that says what Daddy needs." He joked.

As he walked, he stopped as something caught his eye. It was a small stall in the back corner of the mall that he hadn't noticed before. As he headed towards it, a sudden idea came to mind and he knew exactly what to get Pepper.

* * *

"No problems. I can do that for you." said the shop owner.

He was a middle-aged man with a grey mustache and beard. He wore torn faded jeans and an old funnel shirt.

"Thanks." Dean said as he leaned on the counter with one hand and used the other to push the pram back and forth.

"You want it in any sort of color?"

"There's different colors?"

"Yeah. Costs extra though. You can have just one color or I can give you a drawing-"

"-No, the way it is now is fine." Dean replied.

"Okay, well I gotta finish up this other job first." The man explained as he briefly pointed behind him. "Should have yours finished in about twenty minutes."

"Twenty minutes..." Dean mumbled as he looked down at his watch. "I think I'll go for a walk then come back."

"Suit yourself." The man nodded. "I'll have it ready by the time you get back."

"Right. Thanks."

Dean placed both hands on the pram and began walking away, wondering what he could do to kill time for twenty minutes. Three shops down was a large toys and games shop.

"Mary, you wanna go look at some toys?" He asked with a small grin. He hadn't been in a toy store in... God he couldn't ever remember.

Ever since his father had started training him to hunt, he had given up his toys to Sammy and after that he was never really one to play with any kind of toys again. As he walked through the doors, he made a mental note to get as many toys for Mary to play with as she wanted. He just knew that he was going to spoil her.

The store was a lot bigger than Dean would have thought and each isle was dedicated to a certain demographic. Dean didn't see the point in going down every isle so he started at the first one and looked down to see what it was. When something appropriate for Mary came into view, he'd take a closer look.

The first isle had every type of popular game consult that you could think off. PlayStations, Xbox's, GameBoys and more. There was games and anything extra that you could want. Dean had never really felt strongly enough to want a game consult. Why he would want to play a game where he had to kill monsters when he could go out and kill real monsters whenever he wanted.

"I think you're a little too young for any of that."

Dean continued towards the next isle. Action figures. Lots of action figures and anything else a little boy could want. Lego, models and remote control cars, planes, boats. Dean recognized some of the action figures. There was Star Wars, Spiderman, Batman, The Incredible Hulk, and X-men. He spotted a Spiderman toy similar to one that Sam had as a child. He'd gotten it for Christmas one year from Pastor Jim. It had been left in the church's lost and found. Sam had been obsessed with the toy and had taken it everywhere. Dean had been a little embarrassed since he was always stuck looking after his little brother. Then one day Sam decided that, he didn't want the toy anymore. He had told Dean that he had found a better superhero. To this day, Dean had no idea who his brother had been talking about but if he asked him, he may find out that his little brother was referring to him.

"You probably won't want anything down there, hey Mary." Dean said, looking down at his daughter. "But its not gonna hurt anyone if Daddy gets you a remote control car when you're older." He smirked. "As long as you let Daddy play with it."

Several random noises sounded from various toys making Dean look up. There were three children running up and down the isle that Dean hadn't noticed before. Two boys and one girl. The oldest looked to be about nine or ten and the youngest was probably six years old.

"I thought I told you to stop touching everything?" a woman said from the other end of the isle, hands on her hips as she scolded the children.

Dean watched as the eldest child turned to his mother. He pointed to the toy he had been playing with and said, "It says 'Try me' on it."

"Yeah!" The other little boy yelled happily.

The girl nodded and the three children continued to press buttons. Their mother shook her head and started walking towards them.

"I knew teaching you kids to talk would come back and bite me on the ass." The woman muttered under her breath.

Dean looked at Mary, silently hoping that she didn't turn out like that when she got older. When he looked back up, he caught the eye of the mother who smiled wearily at him. She made her way over to him. Apparently having a pram meant that anyone could come up and talk to you. Woman mostly, so Dean wasn't that bothered.

"Your first?" The woman asked, as she peered into the pram.

"Ah yeah." Dean nodded and couldn't help the proud smile that appeared on his face.

"I thought so. You have that new parent look."

Dean laughed, "There's a look?"

"Ah ha, that proud look in your eye." She nodded towards Mary and asked, "How old?"

"Fourteen days."

"Well she's adorable." The woman sighed and looked back at her own children. "Just like mine used to be."

"Um..."

"Oh don't get me wrong, I love all my children with all my heart I just don't like taking them shopping. I'll let you get back to your shopping."

"Alright, ah bye." Dean smiled briefly.

The women walked over to her children who were already heading towards the next isle. Dean sighed and shook his head. He was used to talking to women just not middle-aged mothers. It would take some getting used to, but if they wanted to talk about Mary, well he wasn't going to stop them.

He continued towards the next isle, which was just...Pink. The entire thing was pink. Cleary designed for little girls to go ballistic over. The thought of being seen in an all pink isle made Dean cringe slightly but he figured since he now had a little girl he should see what was down there.

He turned the pram and headed down the very pink isle.

"See how much daddy loves you, Mary."

Mary gurgled back and Dean laughed. He looked around at all the different toys on the shelves. There was a huge section of just Barbie Dolls and their accessories. Beside that, there were different types of baby dolls. Dean never understood the obsession that little girls had with real life looking baby dolls. Then again, he's never been a little girl maybe he could ask Pepper about it later. The next thing he saw was a bunch of dolls wearing mini skirts, make-up and high heeled shoes.

Dean stared at them. "What the hell... Who buys this stuff for their kids?"

He was baffled. These dolls clearly sent the wrong message to little girls.

"Anyone buys you one of these things Mary and it's going right in the bin."

Dean shook his head as he headed towards the next section. He knew he was being a little hypocritical. He had always been more likely to notice a women wearing something like those dolls and he was all for women getting to wear whatever they wanted but there was no way in hell that he'd ever let his daughter wear anything like it. Ever.

Dean looked down at his watch. It had been nearly twenty minutes. He smiled down at Mary.

"Alright, Sweetheart let's go get mommy's present."

* * *

Sam sat on the sofa reading one of Bobby's many books on pagan mythology. Shortly after Pepper had gone to bed, Sam found that he really had nothing to do. It had been a long time since he was able to do nothing. Over the last two years he had always been somewhat occupied with something whether that had been hunting, researching, arguing with Dean over what to do in regards to their father and the Yellow-Eyed demon, or more recently simply hanging out with Pepper or spending time with his niece. Now that he was alone in the house he found that he didn't have anything urgent to do.

It made him realize that eventually he'd have to think about what he wanted to do in his life. Before that had been a simple answer, find and kill the demon that had killed his mother and Jessica, but now...he wasn't sure what he wanted. He could go back to school but his heart wasn't really in it anymore (plus he didn't want to be away from Mary or anyone else for too long) He could continue hunting. He was sure that his father was still going to hunt though he doubted that his father would continue traveling around the entire country. If he didn't want to leave Mary, he didn't think that his father would either.

Before he could ponder too much on the subject, Bobby's phone started ringing. Sam placed his forgotten book down and went to grab the phone.

"Ah, hello?"

"Hey, is Bobby there?" A man asked hurriedly.

"I'll ah, I'll go get him. Hang on."

* * *

Sam walked through the junkyard; phone in hand, towards his father and Bobby. They seemed to be working in the furthest spot from the house that they could find. He hurried towards them and waved to grab their attention.

"Hey, Sam." John said when he saw his son. "Pepper still asleep?"

"Yes." Sam nodded. He turned to Bobby and held the phone out to him, covering the mouthpiece. "Phone for you, Bobby."

Bobby wiped his hands on his shirt quickly. "Who is it?"

"I don't know. Sorry, but it sounded urgent."

Bobby sighed and took the phone bring it to his ear before walking away from the others.

Sam turned back to his father and gestured towards the cars that he and Bobby had been working on.

"So, do you need any help?"

John stared at Sam for a moment. One brow raised slightly.

"What?" asked Sam.

"You wanna help fix a car?" John asked slowly.

"Yeah."

John let out a short soft laugh. "You must be bored." He shook his head. "You've never been interested in mechanics before."

"Yeah well," Sam began, kicking some dirt with his toe. "There's not much else to do at the moment."

* * *

Mary was asleep again by the time Dean placed her back in her car sear. Once he was sure that she was in properly, he leaned back against the seat and watched her as her tiny chest rose and fell in time with her breathing. He still could not believe that he had played a part in creating something so amazing. Brushing his thumb softly over her cheek he smiled then pulled back. He moved to the front seat but instead of starting the car he took out the present, he had bought for Pepper, as well as a velvet case to put it in, red wrapping paper, and a pocketknife from the glove box, and some tape. He placed the gift into the box and stared at it. He hoped that Pepper understood what it meant and she wouldn't be disappointed with it. He closed the lid and wrapped the present the best he could. Once he was happy with the result, he placed the gift into his jacket pocket and shoved the leftover wrapping paper and everything else into the glove box. He could get to all that later.

With a sigh, he started the engine ready to go home.

* * *

It was almost 4:30 PM when Dean arrived back home. Mary was still asleep so he gently got her out of the car seat and held her close to his chest. He had not meant to be out this long. He knew that Pepper was more than likely missing Mary as much as he would be.

He looked down at Mary as he opened the door making sure not to wake her up as he stepped inside.

Sam, Pepper and John were all in the living room when Dean walked inside. There was a stack of books on the coffee table that Pepper was sorting through. She handed one book to Sam, who started flipping through the pages. Dean couldn't tell what the books were about since they were facing away from him. John was standing reading another book when he spotted Dean.

"Hey," Dean said softly, getting Sam and Pepper's attention again.

Pepper dropped the book she had on the sofa and stood to meet Dean.

"Hi." She smiled. She looked down at Mary before running her fingers lightly through her hair. "Good day?"

Dean nodded then thought, 'I hope so'.

"Well next time you are not leaving me alone."

Dean smiled slightly, "You didn't have fun with Sam, then?"

"Hanging out with Sammy doesn't make me miss my baby any less."

"Yeah."

"What were you doing for so long anyway?"

"I was, ah, shopping." Dean replied once he saw that his father and brother's attention was back to their books.

"Shopping?" Pepper asked skeptically. She looked around Dean but couldn't see any evidence of a purchased. "For what?"

Dean shifted Mary slightly and shrugged.

"I got you something." He muttered.

Pepper smiled brightly, "You got me a present? Why?"

"If you don't want it I can take it back--"

"--Don't you dare." Pepper paused and looked at Mary again. "I think I'll put Mary to bed first though. She's had a big day."

"I can do it."

"I don't think so." Pepper stopped him, taking their daughter out of his arms. "You've had her all day. I think it's time for some Mother daughter time."

Dean nodded and didn't say another word. He watched Pepper as she carried Mary upstairs. When he turned back to his father and brother, he found them clearing the books away. He should be curious as to what all the books were for but he was too preoccupied with the thought that Pepper may not like his gift.

This suited Sam and John, as they were not sure they really wanted to explain why they were doing research.

* * *

Pepper came back down twenty minutes later. She sat back on the sofa beside Sam. John and Bobby had disappeared somewhere and Dean was still standing in the spot were she left him.

"So," Pepper clapped her hands together excitedly. "Where's my present?"

Dean took in a breath. He had hoped to give the gift to her when no one else was around. Especially because of the strange look Sam was now giving him. His younger brother was probably just shocked that he had bought a present. Dean couldn't remember the last time he had given Sam a present. He should make a note to do something about that. Dean knew that if Sam didn't see the gift now, then Pepper would just show him later anyway.

"Well..." Pepper said.

Dean rolled his eyes and stuck his hand in his pocket. May as well just get this over with.

"Here." Dean handed her the gift then stood back anxiously.

Pepper took the present and eyed it suspiciously. She knew that the box was the wrong shape to be a ring.

"What is it?" She asked

Dean sighed, "The whole point of the wrapping paper was to keep you guessing a little bit longer."

Pepper glared at him before ripping into the paper. Sam looked over her shoulder, eager to see what it was.

Pepper opened the velvet box and found a key. That was it, just a regular silver key. She looked at it for a long moment, her mouth agape. Dean found himself shifting from foot to foot as he waited for her to say something, anything. Meanwhile, Sam was frowning down at the key, baffled as to what it was.

"Dean..." Pepper slowly began, shaking her head slightly.

She took the key out and clutched it in one hand before standing up and rushing over to Dean. She threw her arms around his neck, pulling him closer as she kissed him passionately. Well that was certainly a better reaction then what he had been expecting.

Pepper pulled back, grinning widely. She kept one hand on the back of his neck and held the key out with the other.

"So...does this mean you like it?"

"I love it." She smiled. "I think it's the best gift I've ever gotten."

Finally Dean aloud himself to smile. He wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her in for another kiss. Neither noticed Sam frowning at them in confusion.

"I don't get it." Sam said suddenly.

Dean and Pepper pulled apart and turned to him.

"I mean, it's a key." Sam continued. "What's the big deal about a key?"

"It's not just that it's a key, Sammy. It's what the key is for that makes it so special."

"Okay." Sam said slowly. His eyes slowly darted around the room before settling back on Pepper. "So, what is it for?"

Pepper looked back at the key and smiled. "The Impala." She answered.

"What?" Sam asked. He stared at the key in Pepper's hand. "You've got your own key to the Impala? Dean you gave her, her own key?"

Dean rolled his eyes though he shouldn't be that surprised with Sam's reaction. He guessed it was pretty surprising after all the Impala had been his most prized possession for most of his life and he'd hardly ever let someone else drive it let alone just hold the keys to it.

"I mean you never made a copy before." Sam continued to rant. "I don't have my own key-Dad doesn't even have his own key and it was his car first--"

"--Sammy!" Pepper yelled. She laughed as Sam finally closed his mouth. "Breath, Sammy. Breath."

"Sorry. It's just...wow."

"Yeah well let's not make a big deal out of this. Alright?" Dean asked.

Pepper turned back to him, kissed him briefly, and then said, "I love you too."

Dean felt himself sighing. She really did understand the full meaning of the key.

Sam had been right about no one else having a copy before. There had ever only been one and once John had given the car to Dean, that one key had been his and his alone. The reason why he'd chosen it as a gift to Pepper was so that she would know that he was willing to give her everything in his life that meant something to him. Everything that he loved. It also showed her that his choice to share the car meant that it was no longer the most precious thing in his life. She was, her and Mary.

Sam was now smiling again. He was about to say something else but paused as John and Bobby rushed into the room. Both men looked serious as they headed towards Bobby's desk. Sam stood up and rushed over to join them.

"Did you find it?" Sam asked

"We think so." Bobby replied. He opened one of the desk draws and pulled out a small notebook.

Dean frowned and walked over to them with Pepper following behind him.

"What's going on?" Dean asked, looking from one to the other.

"A friend of mine needs help on a hunt." Bobby replied as he flipped through the notebook. "I just needed to make sure we were after the right creature... Ah."

"Did you find it Granddad?"

Bobby nodded and then turned to John.

"It's a wailer."

"What the hell is a 'wailer'?" Dean demanded.

"They're like banshees only their cries get inside your head." John explained. "Once they find their victim they stick to them and no matter how far you run you can't escape them."

"Wait, I didn't even know that banshees were real and now you're saying that they have second cousin type things roaming about as well?"

"Ah, yeah." Sam shrugged. "Kind of."

"And this ones been after some college kids for a few weeks now." Explained Bobby.

"So Bobby do we know how to stop it?" asked Sam

"Fire. As long as we can burn the son of a bitch to a smoldering heap it'll stop the cries."

"What are we waiting for then?" John asked.

Dean tried to get his head around what was being told to him as his father, brother and Bobby all grabbed their jackets and weapons before heading to the door.

"Hold on!" He yelled, causing them all to stop. "What is going on? You're going on a hunt?"

"I told you, a friend of mine needs help." said Bobby.

"Yeah but, were any of you going to tell me about this?" Dean asked. A tiny hint of anger in his voice.

"We didn't think you'd want to come." Sam replied. "We thought you would want to stay here with Pepper and Mary."

That made Dean stop. He couldn't believe that he had almost been so selfish. How could he think about leaving Mary and Pepper to go hunting?

"Look, this shouldn't take that long." Bobby said calmly. "We'll get back as soon as we can." He walked over and kissed Pepper's cheek then turned to Dean and placed a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "You just make sure you keep them safe."

Dean, partly dazed at his own reaction simply nodded. He hardly noticed when Pepper placed a gentle hand on his cheek until he heard the distinct sound of a car engine driving off.

"Hey," She said quietly. Her voice full of concern as her eyes searched his. "You okay?"

Dean grabbed her hand and gently removed it from his face. He needed to be alone for a while to think.

"I'm going to have a shower." He said and without waiting for her response, he turned and headed upstairs.

* * *

It had been a long night for Dean. He had tried to keep mostly to himself and really, only interacted with Pepper when they were feeding or changing Mary. He didn't mean to be so distant he just had a lot on his mind and he was trying to figure out what he was feeling.

He hadn't heard from Sam or the others in over four hours and he was worried. He had no idea how dangerous the 'wailer' was and any information that he could find didn't give him much. He felt useless staying at home while his family potentially risked their lives on a hunt. And yet feeling this way was causing him to feel something much worse. Guilt. Undeniable guilt. He should be glad that he isn't out their risking his life because it meant that he could stay with his daughter, but there was a part of him that wanted to be out there and he hated himself for that. He couldn't understand how he could never want to leave Mary's side yet as soon as the thought of killing something evil entered his head his mind drifted. It wasn't right and it most certainly wasn't what Mary and Pepper deserved.

By the time Mary has had her final bottle for the night (not including the ones she'll have in the early morning) both Dean and Pepper are tired for different reasons and they retreat into their bedroom. Dean strips down to his boxes quickly, hoping to find some peace in sleep though he doubted his dreams would let him. Pepper changed into her three-quarter pants and matching top then turned to look at Dean. He was on his back with his eyes closed but she knew that he wasn't asleep. He never went to sleep that quick. She walked over to her side of the bed and sat down on the edge, turning to face Dean's body.

"Dean." She spoke softly.

He kept still pretending to sleep. He didn't want to talk because talking meant he would have to admit aloud what a terrible person he was.

"Are you okay?"

He remained still and didn't answer. Pepper leaned forward and punched him in the arm. Hard.

"-Ow!-" He yelled.

"-Dean don't ignore me. I'm trying to talk to you."

Dean sat up and rubbed his arm. "You didn't have to punch me so hard."

Pepper crossed her arms over her chest, glaring down at him. Dean let out a breath and slumped his shoulders.

"C'mon, Pepper. I'm tired."

"Of course you're tired. You and I haven't had a full nights sleep since we brought Mary home." Pepper pointed out. "But I don't think that's why you're pretending to sleep."

"I'm not pretending." Dean said defiantly

"Yes you are. You're avoiding."

"I am not"

"You are. You've barely said a word to me since Granddad and the others left." She closed her eyes and sighed. "Can you just... Tell me what's wrong."

"I..."

"And if you say nothing I will hit you again." She warned

"Maybe I don't want to talk about it, Pep."

"Well too bad, because I do."

"What do you want me to say!" Dean said in a raised voice. He paused for a moment in a panic to see if his voice had woken the baby. He hadn't. He turned his attention back to Pepper, who was waiting for him to continue. "What?" He asked, his voice in a whisper this time.

She continued to look at him for a moment then her expression softened. "You feel guilty." She stated.

Dean scoffed and laid back down. He hated that she knew him so well. He looked up at the ceiling.

Beside him Pepper sighed, "Please, Dean."

His eyes closed and took in three slow breaths.

"Yeah, okay I feel guilty." He confessed, eyes still closed. "When I found out the others were going on a hunt I wanted to go with them, real bad. Since we came back from the cemetery, I hadn't even thought about hunting. Not for one moment. It never entered my mind. All I could think about was Mary and you. But then when I had the option of a hunt I got excited the way I always did and I hate that the decision to go or not wasn't mine. So, yeah I feel guilty because no matter what, my first choice should always be to stay with the two of you but it wasn't."

The silence that followed was maddening and Dean was glad that he had his eyes closed so he couldn't seem the disappointment in Pepper's.

"Why excited?" Pepper slowly asked.

"What?"

"You said that when you knew there was a hunt that you were 'excited' so I want to know, why did you feel excited?"

"You wouldn't understand." He sighed, shaking his head. "You're not a hunter."

"Maybe not." She agreed. "But like you, I've been around hunters since I was little. Just because I don't hunt myself doesn't mean that I can't know what's going on inside your head."

Dean almost smiled at that. He opened his eyes but still couldn't bring himself to look at her directly.

"There's just something about knowing that I have the power to send a demon, or whatever it is straight to hell that makes me wanna keep doing it." Dean tried to explain. "That I can wipe the smug look of their faces as they realize that I'm the one who's destroyed whatever they had planned. And yeah, I get that sometimes I go over board and I enjoy it a little too much."

"After what happened to your mother it's no surprise that you feel that way. Revenge is an ugly term but it's what you've been brought up on. I understand that that feeling would extend beyond just the Yellow-Eyed Demon. I just thought..."

"...That I'd feel different once Yellow eyes was dead?" Dean asked.

Pepper shrugged, "Something like that. Don't get me wrong, Dean, I'm not saying that what you're feeling is terrible I just always wondered if that feeling of revenge would linger once you saw the end of it."

"You think I should give it up? Stop hunting altogether?"

"If you did that then you wouldn't be the man that I fell in love with?"

"Great," Dean huffed, his eyes downcast. "I'm screwed no matter what I do. I go and I'll feel guilty for leaving you two. I stay and that will cause a series of other problems for us. Why the hell cant things be simple?" He demanded mostly to himself.

"Because it's us." Pepper said on a sigh.

Dean let his eyes close again. This conversation was growing tiring and he hated that Pepper was always able to get him into these sorts of things. It was so easy to deflect others when it came to his feelings, even Sam but Pepper had a way of getting him to open up. Even after talking, he still had no clue as to what he should do.

After several moments, Dean frowned as he felt the bed shift indicating that Pepper was moving. He felt her weight leave the bed and guessed that she was either going to the bathroom or she simply could not be near him at the moment. He was very surprised when he suddenly felt her weight on his stomach as she straddled him. Now he was just confused. He had gotten used to her random mood swings when she was pregnant but now...

"Tell me what else you like about hunting."

Dean opened his eyes and frowned up at her.

"You can't be serious--"

"--Just." She interrupted him sharply. Her hands flat on his bare chest. "Tell me."

"I already told you why."

"I know you didn't tell me the whole reason."

"Maybe that is the only reason."

"If that were true, Dean then you wouldn't get so involved with the people that you're helping."

"Okay I'll admit that being able to save people is a pretty good feeling."

"I knew it." Pepper smiled brightly. "So when you start hunting again, if that is what you want, try to focus on that. On the lives of those people who can live on happily because of you."

"But then we're still stuck with me leaving."

"Dean, you can hunt and stay in the one place you know. Granddad manages to do it."

"So...You want me to start hunting again?"

"Like I said, Dean, hunting is a part of who you are. You wouldn't be you if you didn't hunt. Look, we'll figure something out. Maybe you can go on small hunts when Mary is a little older. You just have to remember to be extra careful so we don't lose you."

Dean thought long about this to see if it made sense in his head. He had always assumed that if he ever did settle down he would have to give up hunting. The idea that he could have the best of both worlds never seemed possible, but Pepper was right, if Bobby could do it then why couldn't he.

"Okay, Pep, so let's say that I will keep hunting when Mary's a little older."

"Yep." Pepper nodded.

"What do we tell her? I mean it was so hard keeping what Dad really did a secret from Sam and when he did find out..." Dean trailed off. He remembered how Sam had cried himself to sleep on the Christmas he had found out that their father wasn't a sales man.

"We tell her the truth." Pepper said calmly. Dean opened his mouth to protest but Pepper quickly placed one hand over his mouth. "We tell her, that her father is out there helping people. Keeping other families save and together."

"You think that will work."

Pepper nodded. "I think it will. And I think our daughter will be just as proud of you as I am."

Dean looked back up at Pepper and smiled slightly.

"Maybe I should have talked to you straight away."

"Yes, that would have been better then you sulking." Pepper teased.

"I don't sulk."

Pepper smiled. She moved her hands up to his face then leaned down and kissed him gently.

"You sulk a little." She replied between kisses. "But that's okay because I love you anyway."

Dean wrapped his arms around her and started caressing her back as they continued to kiss. Within minutes, Dean had rolled them over onto their sides. The kisses they shared were simple and soft. Having given birth only fourteen days earlier, Pepper wasn't up to anything other than a few kisses. Dean didn't care though as long she was in his arms.

Soon their time together was interrupted when the baby monitor came to life. The new parents laughed as they went to feed their daughter.

**TBC**

**Next Chapter - Father**


	10. Father

**Author's Notes - **_This chapter is set before chapter 4. Originally, this was going to be the 4th chapter but then I thought it would be better to end on this. This is also why the dates (and other things) might not make sense because I said in '2:00 AM' that Mary was five days old._

**CHAPTER TEN - FATHER**

During the night when he should be sleeping, Dean lay in bed on his side. His eyes were closed but he was nowhere near being asleep. He couldn't bring himself to sleep. He was too excited. It was the first night that they had all been back from the hospital and Mary was sleeping safely in the nursery for the first time. Even though she was only across the hall, he found that he missed her. It had taken a lot of persuasion from Pepper to get him to sleep in their bed. All he wanted to do was stand over the bassinet and watch his baby girl sleep.

Because he was already awake, when he heard Mary cried he was half way out of bed before Pepper had even sat up.

"I'll get her, Pep." He told her softly.

"She's probably hungry." Pepper said, pulling her knees up to her chest.

Dean smiled softly. "I know. But you stay there and I'll bring her in."

Pepper nodded as Dean headed out the door.

* * *

Mary was crying and wriggling about in her bassinet. Dean held his breath for a moment as he walked over to her. He had found out early on that he hated it when she cried. The sound always tore right through him and broke his heart.

"Hey, sweetheart." He whispered gently while placing one hand under her head and the other under her back. "You hungry?" He asked.

He picked her up and held her against his chest. She buried her face against his neck and continued to cry. Dean kissed the top of her head gently.

"Alright. Let's go see Mommy."

Dean sighed and carried the crying baby across the hall.

* * *

Dean sat on the bed beside Pepper while their daughter drank greedily. Dean found that it was hard to take his eyes away from the breast-feeding. Not because the sight of Pepper's breast was arousing, (though they were) but the entire idea that they were giving his daughter something that she needed was interesting and amazing to him.

Dean did notice that every once in a while Pepper would take in an uneasy breath. He turned his attention to her face and smiled sympathetically.

"That doesn't look very comfortable."

She shook her head. "No not really."

"You never complained when I was...there." He pointed out, waving a hand towards her chest.

"Well one: they weren't over sensitive when you were there. And two: you were never this rough."

"We could try bottles." Dean suggested after a minute or two. "You know if you wanted."

"I'll think about it." Pepper nodded.

When Mary was done, Pepper handed her over to Dean to burp. Dean rubbed slow circles over Mary's back and rested his chin on her head while watching Pepper. He knew that she was exhausted but she would never say anything.

"You should go back to sleep." He offered. "I'll take Mary back to bed."

"Are you." Yawn. "Sure?"

Dean simply looked at her with one brow raised slightly. Pepper chuckled and shook her head.

"Right. Stupid question." She smiled and slid back under the covers. "If you do need me just come and get me."

"I'm sure we'll manage." Dean replied. He kissed Mary's head and stood up. "Come on Mary; let's give Mommy a chance to sleep."

"Bye Sweetheart." Pepper called out softly.

* * *

Dean is back in the nursery, walking around the large room with Mary safely in his arms. He'd successfully burped her and now was just trying to sooth her back to sleep. Her eyes began to drift shut and after a minute or two, they were completely shut. Dean sighed and moved over to the bassinet. He gently placed her down and kissed her temple. He stepped back and smiled down at her. She seemed so peaceful. With the smile remaining on his face, Dean turned and headed towards the door. He stopped though when suddenly Mary began crying once again. Dean jumped and almost ran the short distance back to the bassinet.

"Shh, baby. What is it? What's wrong?" He asked in one short breath.

He picked her up and hurriedly looked her over. He could not see anything physically wrong with her. He placed her back in the bassinet and checked to see if she needed to be changed. She was cleaned but continued to cry. He had no idea what to do. If she was crying then something had to be wrong, didn't it? He quickly picked her up again.

"It's alright, Mary. Daddy just doesn't know what to do." He sighed and shifted her in his arms. "Would you like me to get Mommy?"

Mary continued to cry, but as Dean held her, her cries began to fade away. It was then that Dean remembered something that Ellen and Bobby had told him two days ago at the hospital. They had said that sometimes babies would just cry for no reason other than they just want to be held. Dean let out the breath he had been holding. On the one hand, he was relieved that there wasn't anything wrong with his baby, plus he was actually kind of stoked that she wanted to be near him so much. On the other hand, this new development meant that he would be even more on edge if it meant that she was going to cry more.

With another sigh, Dean started walking Mary around the room. After several minutes, he knew that he would be up for another few hours so he figured he may as well go and get himself a coffee.

"Come on then, Mary." He said gently. "Daddy needs a coffee." As he walked out the door he added, "Please don't make this a habit because Daddy needs his sleep too." He was only really just saying it for the sake of saying it. He would stay up for a thousand nights if Mary needed him too.

* * *

As Dean headed towards the kitchen with Mary in his arms, he noticed that no one else seemed to be up. He didn't know if they were all asleep or if they were actually doing something. It was almost 2:00am but he knew that his father and Bobby were usually up at this time. However, he didn't really care where they were or what they were doing. All he cares about is keeping his baby girl happy.

By the time they reach the kitchen, Mary has stopped crying completely and is simply staring up at Dean with round eyes. She is simply content being in her father's arms.

"Alright, let's go get Daddy some coffee." Dean smiled, bounced Mary slightly and then went over to brew himself a pot of coffee.

As he waits, he takes the time to carefully watch Mary. She is beyond perfect, from her bright green eyes, to her tiny button nose and small toes. Dean smiled. He still couldn't believe that the small being in his arms was actually his. He never thought that he could be apart of something so amazing. Sure, it was great to be able to hunt and save people from some of the evil in the world, but being a father was different.

He could remember how he had felt while Pepper was still pregnant. When he had first found out that he was going to be a father he didn't have the time to stop and worry about it. At the time he was too concerned with making Pepper feel good and calming Bobby down. Once he was able to truly stop and take it all in he had been nervous. He thought that he would do nothing but screw up, which in truth he still feels like that but its combined with feelings of pride and love. Dean remembers becoming completely mesmerized by his baby when he had seen the first sonogram photo, and as the months had gone on, he found himself getting more and more excited to be a father. If Dean was honest, he knew that he had loved Mary since that first sonogram photo. He still has that, along with all the others safely in a draw in his bedroom. He is very, very proud of them.

Mary gurgled, interrupting her father's thoughts. Dean chuckled and lightly bounced her in his arms before shifting her to one arm as he made his coffee. He didn't think he would ever get over how beautiful his Mary was. Nor would he ever get over the fact that he helped to create her. Every single time he looks at her his heart bursts with love and pride. He has never felt this way before about anything and sometimes, it does scare him but he wouldn't give it up for anything.

"I love you, Mary." He tells her then picks up his coffee and sits down at the table. "You are the most beautiful thing Daddy as ever seen."

Leaning back in his chair, Dean begins to rock his daughter gently in one arm.

After taking a few mouthfuls of his coffee, Dean thought that it was time he told his daughter about their family.

"Would you like that, Mary?" He asked her and she blinked in response. "Daddy will tell you about all the people who love you. Let's see...well there's Ellen. She's not related to you but she is still family. You can call her Aunty Ellen. I don't think she'll mind." In fact, Dean is sure that she would insist on it.

"Now Mary would you like to hear about your grandmother? You were named after her, all thanks to your mother." Dean let out a low sigh. It had been a while since he aloud himself to think about his mother. "I don't really remember much about her. I do remember what she looks like. I have pictures of her that I will show you but other than that, I can't really tell you much. We never really talked about her." He paused and looked away for a moment. "I really wished we had though."

Though Dean knew why they didn't talk about her, because it was too painful for his father, he would have like to have been able to hear stories about her or at the least be able to tell Sam some stories about their mother. He could remember some things but not a lot. He knows that his mother loved him and Sammy more than anything.

"You know Mary; I really wish that she was still alive." Dean said, thinking about how great it would have been for his mother to meet his daughter. "I know that she would have really loved you. Like I said, I don't remember much but I know that she was a great mom, so she would have been a great grandmother. She'd have done anything for you."

Mary made a soft sound in response. Dean bent down and kissed her cheek. He should really find out more about his mother so that he can tell Mary more stories about her. As he leaned back again he smiled, deciding to move on to Bobby.

"You are going to be spoiled by Bobby, Mary." Dean said. He paused before smirking and adding, "Actually I think you're going to be spoiled by a lot of people. But that's okay 'cause you're worth it."

"Now, Bobby is your great-grandfather. I know that makes him sound really old but he's not really. He's only a little older than your grandfather. Still he's a good man. He's pretty wise and he knows a lot, so you should be interested in any stories he has to tell you. And even if you find them boring sometimes you should still listen."

Dean had always been taught to respect his elders, even to the point of calling his father 'sir' at times. Which was fine, Dean was used to it and a little discipline never hurt anyone. He did want his daughter to learn the same lessons just not in the same way that he had learned them. For one thing he did not want his girl calling him anything but, 'Dad' and 'Daddy'.

"You know, Mary I don't think your great-grandfather liked me being with your mother too much." Dean said. Well that was kind of a lie. He knew for a fact that Bobby had been against it. "Alright so he didn't really like it at all. I get why though. He was just worried about your mother and wanted the best for her, just like how I only want the best for you - That reminds me, you are not to date until you're forty." Dean said sternly and Mary only blinked. A slight smile spread across Dean's face. "I think that your great-grandfather...we'll have to come up with a new name for him, like 'gramps', or something - anyway, I think that he's getting used to the idea of your mommy and me as a couple. I know he would never give you up. Not for anything. And I hope that he knows that I'd never hurt you or your mom."

Dean reached for his coffee again and drank down the last of it in three mouthfuls, then he sat back and held Mary with both arms.

"Hhm, I guess I should tell you about your grandfather now, hey Mary?" Dean asked, smiling down at his baby. "He can be a little...complicated. His style of ah, parenting isn't what you would call normal."

Well that was an understatement. If normal parenting meant time-outs, and rewarding good behavior then taking your sons hunting, and training them to use shotguns was simply bizarre. Dean can understand now why he father did some of the things that he did. That doesn't mean that he can't wish that things had been different. He often wonders what his life would have been like if he and Sam had simply grown up like regular kids instead of the way that they had.

"He taught me a lot about so many things." Dean continued. He didn't want to tell his daughter that he was a Hunter, and that he hunted demons. Not yet anyway even though she wouldn't remember him telling her now he still wanted to keep her and pure minded and innocent for a hell of a lot longer than he was. "And I know that he always did the best that he could."

"I didn't have a lot of time to do normal kids things." He said a little sadly. "I had to take care of Sammy, and I had to learn the family trade..." He sighed and held Mary closed against him. "I missed out on a lot but I swear that won't happen to you. You are only going to get the best of this world and you let Daddy worry about the rest."

Dean paused and let his mind drift back to his father. The man had certainly been surprising him lately. He can't believe how quickly John Winchester had adapted to being a grandfather. From the way that he (and everyone) always fought to get a hold of Mary, you could tell that he loved his baby granddaughter. And he had already done so much for her. He helped Bobby get the house ready for her. If Dean actually took the time to think about it, he would know that his father had been prepared for this sometime during Pepper's second trimester.

"Your grandfather is very proud of you, and I know that he loves you." Dean told Mary. "No matter what happens he will be there to protect you."

Dean knows that this is true. Something tells him that John will use his relationship with Mary to make up for some of the wrongs he made with Sam and himself. That's okay, as long as it means a better life for Mary.

Dean closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again he let out a low breath.

"Speaking of people who will always protect you, Mary, you have your Uncle Sammy. And you have to call him 'Sammy' not 'Sam'." Dean said with a sly grin. "I can tell you already that he loves you a lot. I think Daddy hurt his feelings when he couldn't hold you. I have seen your uncle want a lot of things but there haven't been many things that he's wanted as much as giving you a cuddle."

Dean was surprised with Sam. He was sure that his brother would feel somewhat awkward with a baby around. Sure, at first he didn't really know what to do but now he seemed almost obsessed with his niece. In a weird way, Dean was proud of his brother for it.

"You were named after him as well. Your middle name 'Samantha' is because of Uncle Sammy. Again that was your mother's choice but I think it's perfect." Dean smiled proudly. "And Mary do you know that you actually share the same birthday month as your uncle." Dean nodded as if to confirm that fact more. You were both born in May. I think that makes you the same star sign but I've never believed in that stuff to pay attention to it. I'll look it up for you though, encase you want to know what yours is when you get older."

"Uncle Sammy is pretty smart." Dean went on. "Actually he's the smartest out of all us Winchester men. Much smarter than your Daddy, but don't tell him I said that. If you ever have a problem with anything like school or you just have a questions that you can't answer you should go to him. Uncle Sammy will be able to help you and I know that he'll do anything for you."

Dean stood up and grabbed his empty mug before walking over to the sink. He placed the mug upside down in the sink, choosing to not bother with rinsing it out. He turns around and leans back against the counter while watching his beautiful daughter looking up at him.

"You wanna hear about Mommy now?" He asked the small infant softly. He paused and sighed before smiling. "I could probably spend hours telling you about your mother. She's a very special woman...and I love her a lot. I think I've always loved her. I don't normally believe in things like love at first sight, Mary but I think that I've loved your mother from the first time I saw her. If not then it was from the second time. I can't imagine anyone else being the mother of my child."

The weird thing was, and Dean would never admit this aloud, but he had often had dreams where he and Pepper had children. It was during times when he found himself wondering what it would be like to have a family of his own. He would see a father playing with his kids and think 'I wonder what that'd be like.' And through every single dream, the mother of his children always turned out to be Pepper. No matter how many women he met in his life. No matter how many of them he slept with only Pepper appeared in those sorts of dreams.

"I have no idea what I did to deserve your mother." Dean muttered quietly even though there was no one around besides Mary to hear him. "Or you. Sometimes I think having both of you in my life is some hallucination and I'm really in a coma, or dead...maybe I am dead and this is just my heaven."

Dean quickly shook his head and blinked.

"I promise you this Mary." He began again after several moments of silence. "I will spend the rest of my life making both you and your mother feel safe and loved."

Leaning down, Dean kissed the baby's forehead. When he pulled back up, he grinned as his baby girl yawned. Man, she was adorable. And that was something that Dean Winchester would proudly admit aloud.

"I think its bed time now, baby."

* * *

Mary's eyes were half closed by the time Dean was standing by the bassinet.

"Night Mary." He whispered while kissing her temple.

He carefully placed her down, but as soon as her head hit the soft blanket, she started to whimper once more. Dean sighed and picked her back up and after a moment, she was silent again.

"I know that Daddy is really awesome and all, but Daddy needs his sleep too Sweetheart." Dean told the baby. He started rocking her gently as he walked around the nursery.

He really hopes that they won't have to go through this every night. He loved his daughter so much but there was no way that he was going to be a good dad if he was always tired. Maybe she was just anxious being in a new place. After all this was the first time she had to sleep in a room without either of her parents.

As he continues to walk around, Dean tries to think of something he can do to help his baby sleep. Half way through his third lap of the room, he gets an idea and smiles down at his daughter.

"Do you want to hear a lullaby, Mary?" He asks her. "You wanna hear Daddy sing?"

Dean paused and had to think for a moment. To be honest he really didn't know a lot of lullabies. Truth be told only one came to mind so he decided to just go for it.

"Alright baby." He shifted her closer to him. _"Rock-a-bye baby on the tree top." Dean began singing softly. "When the wind blows the cradle will rock. When the bow breaks, the cradle will fall. And down will come baby--"_

Mary suddenly began crying loudly once again. Dean immediately stopped singing and lifted her to his chest, resting her against his shoulder. He rocked her gently and rubbed a gentle hand across her back to sooth her.

"You're right, Mary that is a horrible song."

Who the hell thought that kids would like hearing a song about falling to their deaths? Well that was one song that Mary was never gonna hear again. The only problem now is that Dean had no other lullaby to sing her. He really didn't know any. He was sure that Pepper knew heaps but he didn't want to go in and wake her up. He thinks for several minutes and after a lot of thought he hopes he has come up with something that will sooth his daughter.

"Mary, would you like to hear one of Daddy's favorite songs?" He asked her before kissing the top of her head.

Mary whimpered back. Dean took a deep breath and then started singing Led Zeppelins' song Ramble On. Only he was singing the words in a soft whisper, as ballad as opposed to the way it normally sounds.

_"Ramble on. And now's the time, the time is now to sing my song. I'm goin' round the world. I got to find my girl, on my way. I've been this way ten years to the day, ramble on. Gotta find the queen of all my dreams."_

As he sang, Dean began walking around the room again, still rubbing a hand over his baby girl's back.

_"Got no time for spreadin roots. The time has come to be gone and tho our health we drank a thousand times. It's time to ramble on."_

_"Gonna ramble on, sing my song. Gotta keep-a-searching for my baby. Gotta work my way round the world. I can't stop this feeling in my heart. Gotta keep searching for my baby. I can't find my bluebird. I'd listen to my bluebird sing but I can't find my blue bird. A-keep-a ramblin baby."_

When Dean finishes he looks down and smiles softly because the new song seems to have worked. Her eyes are closed and her breathing has evened out indicating that she had finally fallen into a deep sleep. What Dean doesn't know yet is that from now on that will be the only song that will ever get Mary to sleep.

He kisses the top of her head again, letting his lips linger for a few moments as his eyes closed. He never wanted to let her go. He loved the feeling of having his daughter, his own flesh and blood in his arms. Which is why instead of heading towards the bassinet, Dean moves towards one corner and carefully sits down against the wall. He just wants to stay still and watch his daughter. He may not get any sleep tonight but he really couldn't care.

"I love you Mary." He whispered.

Then Dean spent the rest of his life with the most important person in his world safe in his arms.

**THE END**

_**Author's Notes **__- Well that's it guys. Hope you enjoyed 'Four Men And A Baby'. Did anyone pick up on how I tried to finishes each chapter about the Men? I didn't even notice I was doing it til just then lol. In 'Great-Grandfather', 'Uncle', 'Grandfather' and 'Father' Mary always ended up in Dean's arms. Totally didn't mean for that but I love how it turned out. __Stay tuned for the 5th part in the 'Coloured Lights' series, titled --- **'Dark Side'**._

_Also if anyone is interested, I am planning on making some fan videos based on my series. Only problem is that I have no idea who to use for Pepper. If anyone has any suggestions of actors, singers...well anyone really. I am looking for someone you with blonde hair that I can find a lot of clips of online. I would love to hear from anyone if you have an idea. I'd really like to start making these as soon as I can. Also if you have any song suggestions please let me know. Thanks guys._

Reviews are loved. Til next time, Cheers!


	11. IMPORTANT NOTE

**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE**

**Hey everyone,**

**I'm sorry to get your hopes up but this is not an update on the story. The sad news is that I will not be continuing my stories here. Because of a certain thing that has happened I no longer have any respect for this site. So what I am going to do is post my stories on my LiveJournal accounts (links are on my profile page.) My account here will remain until I have transferred each story to LiveJournal. After that I will be deleting this account and will no longer be posting here.**

**I am sorry for the inconvenience this causes anyone. If you have any comments, or you want to know more please email me at - shadedcolouredlights(at)y7mail(dot)com**

**This is sad for me but I can't help how I feel. It will probably take me a long time to post all my stories on LJ because I rarely go on the computer any more. I just wanted to let you all know what was going on.**

**Thank you everyone who has favored/alerted me or my stories. Your reviews have always meant a lot to me. I hope that some of you will continue to read my storie on LJ. If you know any other place I can post my stories please let me know.**

**ICantBelieveImNotButter.**


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